But your would-be Facebook friend can still figure out if you’ve rejected them, simply by looking you up again. If you haven’t touched their request, the “Add as Friend” link on your Facebook entry, as displayed to them, will be replaced with “Friend Requested.” Your profile will say “Awaiting friend confirmation” next to your photo. If you’ve clicked Ignore, these won’t appear, and the other user can send you another friend request.
What’s the right way to tactfully avoid someone? It’s generally agreed that the best thing to do is to leave them in Facebook Purgatory for a long time, by simply not acting on the request. After a few months, you can go click Ignore. By then, the other party will have gotten the clue that you’d rather be Facebook strangers.
Facebook’s customer support team has prepared a new video, below, that explains both sides of the friend invitation process.