As far as I'm aware on this device I am connected to Facebook, if I send lives to friends or go to where you can build Stella's house and the cats quarters they are all my Facebook friends so why am I being asked to connect
Yes, you are able to see your FB friends because it remains there even when you are offline. If the game is asking you to connect is because it's not connected in this case to FB. My advice is to always have it connected otherwise any level you play it might be lost as well as any boosters/rewards you get.
Thanks for the reply though as far as I know I've never disconnected from Facebook on my Samsung device, I do know I'm not connected and never been connected to Facebook on my other device and that doesn't have my Facebook friends showing.