Can friends suddenly disappear from my friend list?

People will disappear from your list if they unfriend you or if they close their account.

Yes, you can ask me about particular people. However, I won't tell you anything that isn't "public" knowledge. I can tell you if someone is no longer a member here, if they're suspended, or if they're still here.

You can remove someone from your list by going to their profile and clicking "Remove as Friend."

Depending on how you manage your list, people could unexpectedly pop up. For example, if you send a friend request and they leave it pending for a long time, and then accept it, it may seem as if they came from nowhere.

Yes, people can change their avatars and names... some people, like Sharonna, seem to do it daily. (She's just an example because I don't think she'll mind.) I've had people freak out when a name in their inbox has changed, thinking they've been hacked. Nope... when a person changes their name, it changes virtually everywhere. However, most people don't think to change the URL of their profile, which has the initial name on it. If you're looking for clues as to who someone is, that's where I'd start.

I think you can ask JA. I believe she will tell you if it's a question she cannot reply you on.

You can drop friends, there's an option to remove friends on the right side under your avatar (a little longer down). If a member is suspended out of whatever reason, they will disappear too but get back on your list after their suspensions has ended.

No person can appear on your list as long as you don't accept their request for friendship.

Yes, we can both change our avatars and our screen names. The url will still be the same though as far as I have noticed. Oh. Just saw JA replied your question at the same time.

Thanks for your kindness, promptness, thoroughness and clarity, JA :)

Several friends have disappeared from my friends list and I found out it was because their accounts were deactivated for some (possibly sinister) reason. You can drop friends from your own list if you want to, if you go into their profile and click on where it says "remove as friend". Yes, people can change their names and avatars and it is possible that a "new" person has suddenly appeared on your list because they have done that and you added them as friends before they changed their names and avatars. I have seen that happen on my own list. You can try asking JA about particular people, but I doubt very much if she would disclose such information. Site moderators are notorious for not disclosing such information.

:-)

Yes.  It means someone removed you as their friend. 

not that i know of unless they just closed their acct