Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and weather guy Sven Sundgaard lobby to end Facebook's 5,000-friend limit

Pionner Press

By Amy Carlson Gustafson
agustafson@pioneerpress.com
Updated: 06/11/2009 08:58:31 AM CDT


How many do YOU have?
How many Facebook friends do you have?
I'm not on Facebook.
Fewer than 50
51-250
251-500
More than 501


One is a popular meteorologist; the other is in charge of Minnesota's largest city. Their common mission? Getting rid of the 5,000-friend limit for personal Facebook pages. KARE-TV's Sven Sundgaard and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak topped out at the maximum friend capacity — Rybak a few months ago and Sundgaard on Monday. Now they're stuck with an ever-growing waiting list of potential "friends."

"Well, I guess it's better than if you opened it up and nobody added you as their friend," Sundgaard said about the more than 100 friend requests he can't do anything about.

Rybak said he's talked to people at the social networking site and has asked them to lift the 5,000-friend limit.

"It's good to be in the same boat with Sven. I hope that together we can convince Facebook that they shouldn't keep us from having more friends," laughed Rybak, who has 2,2000 unanswered friend requests.

Last year, there were rumblings that Facebook might ditch the limit, but that never happened. (An interview request on Wednesday with Facebook management went unanswered.) Many folks who want more than 5,000 friends create "fan" or "group" pages where there is no cap on how many followers a person can have. Rybak already has three separate pages on the site, but he, along with Sundgaard, say they prefer their personal pages because they allow more interaction between people.

"Both Sven and I use our Facebook pages to have two-way conversations with people," said Rybak, who noted that when he first joined the site they didn't have a mayor category. "I do it myself. This isn't some staff-driven, phony deal — this is a place where I can legitimately have an ongoing conversation with people. ... Having this Facebook page has been a great way for me to learn about things that are going on in the community, catch up with people I haven't known and have fun."

Speaking of fun, Sundgaard plans to shower his 5,000th friend with a grand prize that includes dinner with him, a tour of KARE studios, a T-shirt, and a chance to meet Sven's beloved goat, Abigail.
As far as fighting Facebook's 5,000-friend limit, Rybak plans to continue his quest to get the company to change its ways.

"It's one thing to deny the mayor of Minneapolis, but I don't know too many people who can say no to Sven," Rybak laughed. "I hope Facebook can't."

So, now the question is: Who's going to create the "Let R.T. and Sven have more friends" group on Facebook?

Update! As of this morning, people are starting to join this newly created (not by us) group on the site. To find it, just type the phrase "Let R.T. and Sven" into the Facebook search bar.


Amy Carlson Gustafson can be reached at 651-228-5561