This is my blog. This is my safe place to vent my frustrations and share my thoughts. You choose to read my words. Having said that, this post has the potential of offending many (especially those on my Facebook friend list).
Lately I’ve been quite annoyed with Facebook and the lack of Facebook etiquette. One might ask, “does Facebook etiquette exist?” I’m here to say that yes, it does exist and the fact that so many choose to disregard Facebook etiquette is quite baffling.
I don’t excuse myself from not following the rules. I’m not perfect and have therefore fallen victim to many of the actions I’m going to bitch about. But at least I’m aware of what I’m doing and if I realize what I’ve done soon enough, I delete my post. Read on if you want to hear more. Here we go…
It annoys me that people double, triple and quadruple post to status messages. Unless it’s some big news, or a congratulatory message is called for, please refrain from posting senseless comments just to post. More importantly, don’t start an online tiff just because you feel like it. If you’ve got some clever one-liner, please go ahead. I’m always up for a hearty chuckle. But if I post “Rachel is cleaning out her closet,” you probably shouldn’t post anything, let alone something someone else already said. In this case, unless you’ve recently cleaned our your closet and/or have a tip of how to organize really well, no comment is necessary.
In addition, it annoys me when someone posts something to their status and basically asks for feedback or advice, and then scoffs at the feedback or advice given. If you don’t want to hear other’s opinions, don’t post it to your status! If I said “Rachel just read that this pollen season is the worst on record in 25 years,” I would love to know if I was wrong or if you had a differing opinion. If you responded with “actually, it’s not, I just found this information here (insert url if appropriate),” I would never scoff at you or make you feel stupid that you posted that to my status message.
What really gets me is when status posters are rude to their status commentators. If you don’t want comments, just don’t post it! If you’re having an issue and advice is warranted by your fellow Facebook friends, you should probably be a gracious status poster. Think of your Facebook page as your home. If you invited a friend over to your home and he/she said something that you didn’t agree with, you probably wouldn’t react negatively to them (unless you’re an asshole and if that’s the case, you probably shouldn’t waste your time reading this anyway). You might state your opinion which would probably spur a conversation from the topic. It’s how we humans communicate.
I’m making an April resolution. I’m not going to post snarky comments, I’m not going to post unnecesarily and I am certainly not going to be rude to those who visit my Facebook home.
I invite you to do the same. Next time you have the option of posting something to someone’s status just for the hell of it, read through the previous posts (if there are any) and then consider if the status poster needs/wants any additional feedback. If you have something intelligent or witty to say, by all means, please post. But if your comment is snarky and/or doesn’t add value to the conversation or status update, please refrain from putting in your two cents.
Thanks for reading. I’ll start working on the Facebook Etiquette Handbook now.
