Friday, August 3, 2012

Facebook Do NOTs

Today I was quite inspired by one of my friends' posts on Facebook pet peeves, and realized an entire blog post could be written on on this subject. But before I go into this posting about what NOT to use your facebook status for, let me begin by saying that I, myself am guilty of a couple of these. Some of these I learned the hard way. Others I came to my senses on before hitting the "post" button. Yet, most of these are what I've seen from other posters that have driven me absolutely crazy.

So, with all that said, here is a list of some of my Facebook Do NOTs- learned from experience, or from the opinion of myself and others:


1) Using PROFANITY in your status, comments, etc - I know that in today's world it is everywhere. For some reason kids- and adults- think it makes them sound so awesome...truth is (which is a whole other status game that irks me)- I think it drops the intelligence and power of a status and/or comment to a rock-bottom level. There are a plethora of words in the English language that can be used, other than the F-Bomb or the four-lettered S-word. I don't agree with Eminem on the power of profanity.

I must say that I was talking to a friend a few days ago, and she said she completely "defriends" anyone who uses profanity or has friends who use profanity on their news feed. I can't say that I blame her. I've seriously considered it, and odds are in the near future it will happen. If I want to hear/see profanity, I'll move to New York and take the public transportation everywhere I go. In the meantime, for the sake of my spiritual health and future family's spiritual health, I will do all I can to cut it out of my life.


2) Using your status to talk about or to 1 specific person -  I've noticed this is especially popular with the high school crowd, and emotionally vulnerable girls. (Can't say that I haven't done this in a moment of weakness). And I'm not talking about wishing a parent or friend a Happy Birthday on your status - that's pretty nice. However, I've seen the passive-aggressive statuses come across towards a single person (usually from one ex to another). For example, a status might read something like "Enjoy your new (enter profanity here) girlfriend...". Yep - I doubt he's reading your status if he has a new girlfriend, and though you may say you're over him, your status would suggest otherwise.

The fact that someone is being bashed on a status everyone can see is honestly kind of low. It's actually a type of bullying. It is simply flaunting how horrible a certain individual is to the world. But one thing that needs to be remembered is that that individual is someone's son, brother, sister, parent, friend...Even though they might not be liked by you, they are pretty well-liked by someone else. Just be cautious of this - because it can come back to haunt you. Let me reiterate that I have been guilty of this, and it is super-easy to use Facebook as a weapon against someone we may not like, but just remember that in the end we don't end up being the mature-bigger person in this fight.


3) Ridiculous photos that give you hope and/or guilt - We've all seen them. "Share this photo if you want a surprise in 1 hour! If you scroll past this, something horrible will happen to you in 10 minutes!" GIVE ME A BREAK! Never have I ever seen a photo cause such magic to happen. It's one thing if you see a photo that you believe in and repost because it is you, but it is another thing to guilt fellow-users into reposting because they think an animal will die if they don't. I can't say for sure that Facebook donates money to every photo that demands a need, but I highly doubt it with most of them. I think it's one thing to use a photo to raise awareness, but it is absolutely another thing to have people repost out of guilt. Definitely one of my pet-peeves when I log on and see 9 miles of photos taking over my Facebook news feed. Odds are, I'll block them.

One of my personal favorite statuses used to mock things like this: "IT'S OFFICIAL! FACEBOOK USERS WILL BELIEVE ANYTHING THEIR FRIENDS COPY AND PASTE INTO THEIR STATUS MESSAGES! NOT ONLY WILL FACEBOOK START CHARGING YOU TOMORROW, THEY ARE ALSO GOING TO BILL YOUR CREDIT CARD FOR THE PAST 3 YEARS OF SERVICES. ...LUCKILY, EACH PERSON WHO COPIES AND PASTES THIS STATUS WILL RECEIVE A FREE UNICORN IN THE MAIL TOMORROW. IF YOU DON'T REPOST THIS STATUS, FACEBOOK CODE HAS BEEN SET UP TO AUTOMATICALLY SET YOUR COMPUTER ON FIRE AND HARM AN INNOCENT BUNNY IN THE FOREST!"



4) Posts that belong on text messages- I may be a tad biased here, since I studied English and writing, but I honestly can't stand when I see a status like this: "wut r u doin 2day? i went 2 skool." Uhg....'nuff said.


5) Posting racy/scandalous photos- I know I don't want to see butt cracks or boob cracks, so I bet there are others who don't want to either. When they're taken by that same person in a mirror - that's even worse. Odds are it's being done to attract a guy/girl, and trust me - you don't want those types chasing you anyways.


There are others that bother me personally - like the obvious sharing too much information with the Facebook world, or the "here's a picture of my daily breakfast cereal", or posting your cell number for all the perverts and criminals to track you on, but I think the point is across.

Perhaps you're offended by some of these "do nots" but these are simply my opinion, and a common opinion among friends and fellow users. Do whatever you'd like with your Facebook profile. It's not like Facebook has a block on any of the above anyways. I'm guilty of a couple of these. Pin It