I have a pretty large queue of individuals whose request that I friend them on Facebook I have studiously ignored, sometimes for years. And I have done this ignoring without embarrassment either.I don't recall anyone having ever made explicit, repeated requests to me that I friend them on Facebook.
If somebody keeps asking, I keep forgetting :) And I will tell that persistent someone that I make hardly any effort to maintain my Facebook page and that I'll process their request that I friend them "whenever" - There are so many ways of saying "No" without saying "No" :)
Follow-upcomment from Gus "Altough I've done this a couple of times, I believe that I'm avoiding the "sincere" factor that can lead to future misunderstandings or colleagues not being sincere to me as well.."
I am sincere about certain things and diplomatic about others