'De-Friending' enables you to have a cleaner and more relevant news feed, you'll be able to more easily separate business and personal contacts and you'll be able to skip past the photos of the puppy that belongs to that person you've never met in real life.

But before you go crazy, this week is not about being nasty but getting rid of the toxic friendships, the clutter (you know, that person you met one night at a bar that you will never speak to) and putting more emphasis on your friendships outside of social networking.

"When you get right down to it, there's enough stress going on in our lives as it is; global economic crises, global warming, wars, famines, sickness and unemployment," says the creator, Australian Social Media entrepreneur 'Digital' Dave Abrahams.

"The need for the stability and reliability of real friendships is greater than ever but the proliferation of online friends has simply devalued the idea of good relationships. You can't have 400 real friends! It's physiologically impossible and is simply turned into a weird popularity contest!"

But how do you go about such a process?

Dave suggests taking a hard look at your accounts before taking some time to "put a broom through" the names and business pages that don't mean anything to you anymore.

While you're at it, get rid of those pages you 'liked' when you first signed up. You know the ones. We're talking, "I use my rubber as a fortune teller" and "I like to flip the pillow over to the cold side".

By getting rid of these you're simplifying and uncluttering your real relationships and your head as well, but there is a knack and serious etiquette to consider:

• "De-Friend" because the person or page is not relevant to you anymore.

• Consider how you'd feel if the person "De-Friended" you. If it's worth staying in touch (but not where you're currently connected) let them know via email.

• Provide a link to the social networking channel where you would like to remain in touch with someone you've "De-Friended" so you can continue your relationship (IE Twitter, LinkedIn)

• If your "De-Friended" friend contacts you and you don't wish to remain in contact with them, simply state that while you valued their friendship in the past, that was then and this is now. It sounds harsh; but honesty is really the best policy.

• DON'T "De-Friend" someone out of spite or because you had an argument.

• Do remember when "De-Friending" that behind the profile is a real person with feelings, just like you!

Will you de-friend anyone for National De-Friend week? We're talking about it right now on Facebook and Twitter.