Rude not to friend family members?

[MissRose]

I have 2 of my cousins on facebook, but we don't talk all that often on it as they are busy with their kids, home, and work.

No other relatives have looked for me, then again I have my name set in a way that it makes it hard for people to search for me, as some relatives I don't need them to know certain things about me.

[iDuckie]

my husband was in a bind like this recently. His dad's family (who he hasnt had much contact with since he died about 25 years ago) have been sending him facebook invites. He was really hesitant and accepting them because of bad blood between the family in the past. I told him its up to him if he wants the relationship. Its definitely not rude as that is your personal, private space.

[Larrabee]

I vote not rude.  One side of my family is very large with plenty of issues and generally quite irritating.  To save my parent from getting a whole lot of hassle I have grudgingly friended 1st cousins of my generation only.  No Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents or anyone more distant.  This way it looks like I have a 'no old people' policy rather than a 'no intefering judgemental self obssessed relatives who don't care enough about me to ever speak to me in real life but seem to want the ability to keep track of me online' policy, which is what I actually have.

The cousins have been mostly ok, a few incredibly rude statuses and now I know more about them than I really want to including which one was banned from a store for bad behaviour and the ins and outs of a few break ups but sometimes its quite entertaining to sit back and watch a bit of drama unfold, it never happens with my real friends!

[SkyTalon]

Not rude.

After all this can easily lead to the question of "Is it rude to post things on my FB page that my Friended Family might object to?"