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Etiquette on Facebook
Getting egg on your face!
Some people just don't get the hint! How many times in your life have you done everything you can to let someone know something without actually coming straight out and saying it? And eventually when you have tried everything you finally just say it and to your embarrassment you were the one who wasn't getting it. That is called getting egg on your face!
An example of this would be when I first started using Facebook. I had no idea what a steep learning curve that was going to be especially when it came to etiquette. I must have done everything wrong and in my innocence probably annoyed a lot of people. I do not claim to have mastered Facebook especially when it changes so frequently but feel that I am not annoying as many people as before or as frequently.
Unsubscribe or Restrict
A recent revelation has been that not every one on my friends' list needs to be notified of ever single post I make to my wall and I only found out about that when a friend recently said she had gone on Facebook after a long break from it and was overwhelmed by the number of posts in her news feed form me. Yes, I could have have explained that if she did not wish to be overwhelmed all she needed to do was unsubscribe from my news feed but since nobody ever told me that I thought I'd let her figure that one out for herself. What I did instead was put her on a restricted list which means that she only receives updates that I label as public.
Human Interaction
Facebook is no different to any other human interaction in that we have all had to learn to get on with each other. There are times when things people do may upset us but that has nothing to do with anyone but ourselves because at the end of the day the problem we experience is to do with our reaction to what we perceive. What may seem annoying to you may not in the least be something that would annoy the other person so you have two choices, spend less time in that person's company or learn to react differently to their behaviour.
On Facebook you can see what a friend posts and how she posts as annoying and you could unsubscribe from her. She will be none the wiser and you will no longer see what she posts. The alternative is to read what she says or scroll past it unaffected or just laugh and let what she says be a reason to brighten up your day.
Deleting Recent Activity on Timeline
I recently changed over to Timeline on Facebook and decided that I was going to make sure that my settings were adjusted to ensure that I could use my Facebook account for the purpose of giving a human face to our private hypnotherapy practice here in the Isle of Man and at the same time minimise the nuisance factor and maintain an appropriate level of privacy for myself and the people I am associated with.
I did this by turning off my “Recent Activity”. By doing this people associated with me stopped receiving notifications on their “News Feed” every time I “liked” something, “shared” something, “updated” something or made “friends” with someone. This wasn't as easy as I had imagined it would be as Facebook has done everything it can to maximise what people share and so making it difficult for users to find ways to take back control over the information we are willing to share. Anyone now visiting my page will only see the posts I put on my Facebook wall and the comments they receive but none of my other activity.
Tweaking your Facebook settings makes you a better "Friend"
I also made lists for the people who joined me as “friends” so that I could ensure that what I post goes only to the people most likely to interested in the subject matter contained in the post. Before posting anything I choose my target audience from a drop down list next to the “post” button.
These are just a few things I have done to minimise conflict on Facebook and nurture friendly relationships that hopefully will result in people appreciating the effort we make make and so reflecting positively on the lengths we go to for the clients who attend our clinic.
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