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10 Facebook Offences
Social?
When over 600 million people can see the posts and photos of everyone else, Disney’s “It’s a Small World” takes on a whole new meaning. As the fastest growing social media site in the world, many Facebook users seem to lack, well - socialization. Even simple common sense would be nice.
Some Facebook users forget that what they post on the internet is not private. If what they’re posting is rude, offensive or personal, it hits their circle of friends, family, acquaintances, co-workers, and employers faster than the flu virus.
Some behaviour is obviously obnoxious or outright stupid, but even when it isn't, there are Facebook users who don’t know they are irritating or upsetting their “friends”.
Here are 10 offences that frequently crop up on Facebook.
10. Drunk Posting
This shouldn’t even have to be mentioned, however there is an alarming amount of folk who think it’s a good idea to post after a few drinks. Worse, some think it’s okay to post photos of their idiotic behaviour while drunk. Many a job has been lost, interview not scheduled and relationship damaged due to this. Facebook and alcohol don’t mix.
09. Kissy-Kissy Eww!
It’s great that you found (another) love of your life. You’re obviously over-the-moon about this new love interest (the latest in a line-up the length of the Great Wall). Your Friends are happy for you (again), but … Guess what? They don’t want to read dedication after dedication to your new heart-throb in their News Feed, because you can’t control gushing your love via status updates. Quit it. It’s nauseating.
08. Pointless Wall Posts
Why? Why would you post questions, answers, game stats and ads on the walls of your Friends? Why do you think they care if you found a plant stand in your zoo? Why do you think they would want to sign up for yet another app. just to read your answer to a question about them that they never asked? Stop it. It’s annoying.
07. Adding Friends to Groups
Facebook has made some changes to Groups. Now, you can add your Friends to Groups without their permission. Don’t do it. Your Friends will not thank you.
If you want to share a Group with your Friends, send them the link and invite them to take a look at it.
06. Serial Status-ing
Posting a new status update every few minutes about what you’re doing is annoying. Facebook News Feeds are so jam-packed with updates, game notices and shared items that it’s hard to keep up with the things we actually care about. So, why would you inflict inanities on your friends?
Seriously; no one wants to know that you’re having your morning coffee ... checking your bills … taking the dog for a walk …. shopping at Walmart, and, no; they don’t want to read an automatically generated update from a Facebook app. or know what song you’re listening too.
Your Friends want to know what is going on that is important in your life, so they can comfort you or celebrate with you. Period. If you don’t actually have any interesting information to share, DON’T POST!
If you’re so bored and lonely that you have time to post meaningless status updates every 5-20 minutes, you need to walk away from the computer and get a life. Join a club, take a workshop, go for a coffee with someone. Just STOP harassing your Facebook Friends with meaningless updates.
05. Misuse of Photo Tagging
There seems to be a trend where people post photos or images and then tag all their Friends in the photo - even if they’re NOT in it - just because they want their Friends to look at it. Don’t do this. It’s obnoxious and clutters your Friends’ inbox and profile.
Plus, Facebook now has that silly strip of photos on everyone’s profile that shows photos you’re tagged in. This can cause confusion and problems for your professional Friends. For example, some people will post artwork in one of their albums and then tag all their artist Friends in it. Those photos show up on the artist’s profile, right next to their profile picture. Someone can easily confuse the tagged art as being the work of that artist, completely misrepresenting them to potential clients.
04. Brown-Nosing
So, you’ve got some famous folk in your Friend List. If you’re a budding artist, writer or actor (etc.) this can be a foot in a door. Social networking is vital, so you send a little flattery to some of the big names. Maybe you even chat or message back and forth. It’s all good, right? …. Maybe.
No one likes to have smoke blown up their behind. Even if you’re not really “friends” in Real Life, folk want to know you genuinely like them and their work. When a writer you've been fawning over sees you’ve posted a note on “The 25 Writers that Influenced Me” and they’re not on that list ... When an artist sees that you’ve posted art by artist Friends and you’ve used colourful titles, such as “The Artist Mage” or “The Ink God” for every single artist regardless of their skill … they start to doubt your sincerity.
03. Dirty Laundry and Cheap Shots
Facebook is a wonderful way for passive-aggressive folk to indirectly express themselves in the general direction of the person they’re upset with. Cheap shots, rants about some unnamed person, and venomous innuendoes litter Facebook News Feeds. If you need a shoulder to cry or vent on, call a friend and talk. Don’t drag your unsuspecting Facebook Friends into your dramas. If you have an issue with someone, deal with them directly instead of hiding behind the keyboard.
02. Swag Bragging
Believe it or not, a lot of folks do business on Facebook. Especially artists. It’s a great way to display their work to millions of people for free. A simple PM and - voila! New client accepted. That’s great … except of course, when that client doesn't have the money to pay for the work they commission.
Now, generally people are kind enough to wait, as long as they know you’re going to make good on what you owe. They’ll even allow you to make small payments. Yet, goodwill can come to an abrupt end.
Even if the person you owe money to is not someone you hired for a job. This is for you:
Please - for the love of all that is holy - do NOT post status updates about the latest sporting event or restaurant you went to. Do not crow about how much money you spent on speciality shoes and collector items when you owe one (or more) of your Facebook Friends money.
01. Family 9-1-1 via Status Updates
Some people feel that Facebook status updates are a good way to get important information to their friends or family members. Imagine finding out via Facebook that your 3 year-old nephew has just been rushed to the Children’s Hospital with Leukaemia. What if you hadn’t checked Facebook that day? What if you had so many News Feed updates you missed that one?
Granted, in the heat of an emergency you don't have time to contact folk with news, however if it's serious, call your mom, dad, and siblings ASAP. Don't leave it up to a Facebook post and then not contact anyone for days afterwards.
Important information should not be delivered through Facebook status updates. That’s just wrong. You are not the centre of the universe. Your family members and close friends have better things to do than sit around all day checking your status to see if something important is going on. You know perfectly well that some of them don’t even turn their computers on more than once a week. Pick up the phone or send a quick text/PM/email to make sure they get the 4-1-1 on your 9-1-1.
Conclusion
Now that you are aware of this list of behaviours that are bugging your Facebook Friends, please make sure you don’t do them.
Be social. Be sociable. Be a real Friend.
Any of These Offences Sound Familiar?
© 2011 Rosa Marchisella