Facebook Etiquette

Facebook is a popular social network that was created by Mark Zuckerberg and his friends in 2004. Originally, it was created for college students, and one had to be invited in order to become a member of Facebook. Today it has evolved into a social network for old classmates, high school networks, college networks, family members, celebrities, businesses, etc. Facebook has many functions ranging from putting what is on your mind at the moment into a little box to messaging your long lost friend. Unfortunately, people have started to turn away from the basics of Facebook and started to use it for the wrong reasons.

Many people have refrained from using Facebook as much as they use to because they have become tired of logging on to see bullying, prolonged rants, drama, and the reoccurring “o, woe is me” type statuses. They feel better going to other social networks such as, Twitter. So I decided to come up with a list of suggestions that will serve as “Facebook Etiquette” to keep more users on Facebook.

• Make a status describing your mood, location, task/hobby, or state without giving too much information
• Have a positive vibe. DO NOT bully, make negative references, post inappropriate comments, etc.

• Be respectful. Only post pictures and videos that you would be fine with your parents and loved ones seeing.

• Use Facebook for what it is, a social network. Stay in contact with your friends, classmates, old teachers, family members, co-workers, etc. Do not hold conversations online because that is what texting and pop-up chats are for.
• DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT put your whole life on your profile and newsfeed. Use the privacy settings to maximum. They are there for a reason. Ex. Your birthday along with your location, mother’s maiden name, and email address is enough to access your bank account.

• Only accept friend requests from people that you know. Having mutual friends is not enough anymore. The account may even be spam or a Trojan virus.
• Be very careful with your log in information. Make your password very unique to ensure privacy.
• Do not choose the “keep me logged in” option on a public computer or on any computer other than your own to ensure that no one can hack your account.
• Only post what you are comfortable with or what you feel you can handle feedback on. Be prepared for comments and/or subliminal messages on an opinionated post, relationship status, check-in, video, etc.
• Avoid clicking on random links on your newsfeed. This leads to spam accounts or spam just being posted on your wall. I.e. those shoe advertisements and model pictures everyone has been seeing recently.

In clarification, these suggestions are not listed in any order of importance. There are strictly things that I have thought of and things that I have been wanting to state. Also, there are more tips, but I only decided to list ten to refrain from repeating something. To sum this all up, just please use Facebook for social purposes within ethical reasoning and not so much for entertainment purposes. Remember, Facebook can pretty much show who you are as a person, display every bit of your personal information, and tell your every move ONLY IF YOU ALLOW IT TO!