A Guide to Facebook Etiquette

As the eCard says, the best thing about being in my 30’s is that I did all of my stupid shit before the internet.

Generally the rule should be if it looks like you had to be on drugs to be doing what you’re doing in THAT photo, it shouldn’t be on Facebook.

Like many modern marvels, the general agreed upon social rules, courtesy or etiquette for online communication is a fluid work in progress. While it is difficult to make hard and fast rules for spontaneous social interactions, it’s not hard to mind your manners.

Private Messages vs Wall Posts

Be mindful of what you’re posting, you may offend friends from different social economic, religious or schools of thought. Some things are best kept private.

To Post or not to Post?

Call rather than post personal news in the first instance. You don’t want net savvy Nanna finding out all your big news items via Facebook first.

Reply to comments especially if they are questions, but avoid posting comments on every post. Also known as Facebook stalking (we’re all a little guilty of trawling old posts from persons or pals of interest), but by commenting on them all you are giving away your game.

Consider also:

• Avoiding vaguebooking, that is posting intentionally vague posts designed to generate attention.
• Chronic complaining (also known as first world problems) ‘It’s so hard to hear the TV while I’m eating crunchy snacks.’
• Meaningless calls to action eg: ‘if you want to fight world hunger, put the colour of your socks as your status update for the next hour.’
• Oversharing: ‘Note to self, next time wear a g-string, DO NOT go commando to reduce VPL.’
• Posting too frequently: ’12:03: Chicken or tuna salad? 12:12: Chicken! Thanks for the responses!’

Flaming Others

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and to state it freely on the internet. Flaming refers to those who post negative or insulting comments just because they disagree with a post (or worse, don’t like the person). You even see people critising the comments of their friend’s friend who replied to the post, whom they don’t even know. It not only reflects badly on you but also causes embarrassment for the pal in the middle too. This not only applies to posts on your own profile and your friends’  but also on public business and fan pages.

Watch your Tone

As posts do not also include body language or facial expressions, it’s easy for someone to think you are being sarcastic when you are not or to misunderstand you. Emoticons help to take the edge off, just using a smiley face at the end of a sentence can do wonders by neutralising any potential tension ;).

Venting about Work, Family or Friends

Bad idea.  You just never really know who is friends with whom and if comments are made who will see them in a newsfeed update. Many a family rift has been caused by something someone has posted on Facebook which has been taken out of context (because there is no emotion in text) – it’s always best to speak to someone face to face or on the phone about your issues instead of airing your dirty laundry for the world to see! Many employers and even controlling buy swap and sell Facebook groups stalk your profile to get a feel for you before offering you a job or allowing  you exclusive access to their group. It appears to be a far more reliable method than the pre-facebook ‘judge an applicant by their hotmail address user name’ system. You can also get yourself into legal hot water by openly bagging your workplace or employer, even if it is on your private profile page!

Photo sharing

One simple rule here: don’t tag pals in unglamorous photos!

A recent internet poll showed the top photos you’d rather not see:

• Multiple PDA (public displays of affection) photos.
• Every single one of the blurry 2500 pictures of your holiday.
• Selfies in your/any bathroom.
• Drunk selfies.
• Endless baby snaps.
• Fish lips/trout pout poses.
• Shirtless people.
• Photos of what you are just about to eaten/have eaten.

A few more don’ts……

• Don’t make friend requests to strangers, enough said, it’s just plain weird.
• Don’t post chain status updates.
• Don’t post chain private messages to every friend on your list – that’s just annoying!
• Don’t click on any post on your newsfeed that looks really suss (like those videos of people with incredibly disgusting bodily features) – most of the time these are viruses and will in turn infect the newsfeeds of all your friends and even worse, their computer hard drives.

What are your pet Facebook etiquette hates?