Facebook Etiquette

I've had a Facebook account for a few years now, and for the most part, I like using it.  It is an easy way to share photos and keep in touch.  There are some things are, let's say a little problematic with it.  For example, you've had a frustrating day and want to vent.   So you turn to you Facebook status update.  You spew out your frustrations. . .you feel better. . .but wait, maybe you shoudn't have said that. . .but it's right there in black and white for your closest 300 friends to read.  Yes, you can delete it, but what if someone reads your regretable words before you can find the delete button?

Here's a few tips to keep from embarassing yourself

1.  Think twice before you post something disgusting.  I really don't want to know that you washed a dirty poopy diaper in the washing machine with your white linen tablecloth from Great-aunt Betty.  If you want to mourn the loss of you table cloth, maybe say "I accidentally washed my tablecloth from my aunt with some garbage and I'm afraid it is ruined."  See there, that's better.  That doesn't elicit a gag reflex.  This also applies to finding doggie poop in the bed on the down duvet and anything else that has to do with poop or vomit!

2.  Restrain yourself from saying disparaging things about kids.  Ok, so you've had a bad day with Junior.  He/she has (all in one day) drawn on the wallpaper in the dinning room with a sharpie, decided to go exploring the in garbage can and threw trash all over the kitchen and torn the towel rack off the wall in the bathroom and played frisbee with your china.  BAD day, so you turn to your Facebook status update to vent. I think your child would be mortified to find out that you shared all that information with your 300 closest friends.  What if your kid finds that and reads it himself one day? Be respectful.  Say, "It's been a long day with Junior.  I need a girls' night out." 

3.  Restrain yourself from saying disparaging things about our spouse.  If you have a problem with them, resolve it privately.  The rest of us don't need to know that you've had an argument that was so loud it attracted an audience outside your front door.

4.  Respect your child's right to privacy.  Be careful with those bathtub pics that you post of your little person.  No one wants to see him in his birthday suit with his unmentionables exposed, and it they do they are a sicko and shouldn't be on your friend list to begin with!  The strategic placement of toys, bubbles, or washcloths greatly improves the decency of these kinds of photos.  Before posting any photo ask yourself, "If that was me in that photo instead of Junior (or whoever), would I want my 300 closest friends to see it on the internet?"  If they answer is "no", then you are probably better off not posting it.

5.  Do not use Facebook as a place for confession.  So, you went out last night and drank like a fish and you woke up in the middle of your driveway with nothing but your underwear on.  Keep it to yourself, for your own sake!  Posting things like that can come back to bite you.

6.  Do not send multiple friend requests to the same person.  Get the hint.  They do not want to be your Facebook friend!  I've gotten requests from people that I either didn't know or didn't know well enough to want them on my friend list.  So, I reject the first request, but they just keep coming.  Maybe the sender doesn't remember if they sent the first one.  May they think it got lost in cyberspace.  It didn't get lost in cyberspace, people.  So I reject the second request.  I get a third one.  Then I block the person.