Often times we quietly find ourselves thinking, why am I following, friending, snap chatting this person? The thoughts we privately think to ourselves while we’re surfing through all of our social media apps (so we don’t have to listen to the professor) are usually insightful, yet never spoken out loud. As a result, I’ve compiled some basic guidelines for proper Facebook etiquette.
1. Annoying emotional status:
I apologize to anyone who is going through a break-up, it must be hard, but Facebook doesn’t need to know about it. No one on your newsfeed needs to read the two page emotional rant about “someone” in your life. If you write, “I hate when someone dumps you and then thinks it’s okay to hook up with your best friend.” While discussing private events by using “someone” is supposed to sound like general advice, it sounds more like a personal problem. Do us all a favor and get a diary. Honestly, some things are meant for a journal.
2. Older Generations improperly using Facebook:
I think the social connectivity of Facebook is great. It allows me to keep connections with people in different countries, people from different schools and find long lost friends I forgot I had. A lot of adults have also jumped onto the Facebook wagon and created pages to reconnect with their old prom dates and so on. The connections and relationships you’re forming are great, but Facebook doesn’t need to know what you’re doing every minute of every day. For some reason the definition of status never comes across right when I explain it to my parents.
You should have one status a day maximum unless you absolutely can’t contain yourself. We’re essentially trying to avoid situations like this:
9 a.m. “Just went for a run!”
10 a.m. “Hitting up Starbucks!”
11 a.m. “Having lunch with the girls”
12 a.m. “Time for some reading”
1 p.m. “Nap time for Mama!”
You understand the point. Statuses are for occasional personal reflection, something funny that happened, a quote, a large thank you note, or to complain once in a while. Not for relationships and not to plan out your day.
3. If you can’t say it in person, don’t say it on social media:
Whenever you have that thought that maybe something you’re about to post is inappropriate, it probably is. Facebook is public, which means anyone has access to anything you’re posting. I know some people think they’re on privacy settings and that protects them, but parents, employers, teachers, exc. can still see it. My brother goes to MIT, so you can trust when I say, anyone can find anything posted on the Internet. Be careful! Social media is very public and things you post now could ruin you down the road.
4. Don’t over do the acronyms.
Via: comicalmemes.com
We get “lol”. We understand “OMG”. In fact, they’ve become so popular Oxford English Dictionary officially added them as words. However, keep the acronyms to a minimum, please! Since Facebook has recently added hashtags and a little button to express how you’re feeling, even though your status already did that, we no longer need so many intense acronyms. They’ve actually kind of gone out of style a little bit, which is kind of sad. So don’t be lame, keep up with Facebook and kill the “g2g” and move on. Also check out the funniest list of the most ridiculous hashtags I’ve ever seen.
That’s my lovely rant about Facebook etiquette! For more social media etiquettes check out part 2 next week!
Photo courtesy of: Attaindesign.co.uk
