With Facebook that is now used by everyone, it is very easy to fall into trivial errors due to inexperience or instinct. For many people, especially the younger ones, it is not easy to grasp the unspoken rules of social interactions of the social network.
Yet there is a code of conduct in online communication that can also be applied to Facebook, although, it must be said, there are no fixed rules because social interactions are constantly evolving.
Then, in an article not to be taken literally but to be assessed point by point, below we see how we should behave on Facebook and what we should not do to bore or annoy friends through the publication of news and status updates.
READ ALSO: How to create Facebook events and invite friends without annoying them
1) The most trivial and gross mistake that can be made on Facebook is publicly speaking about private matters .
Obviously we are not referring to private messages sent through Messenger, but to public status updates on the diary that have exhibitionist tendencies to want everyone to know the most intimate secrets of others.
Creating lists of friends and publishing posts with restrictions becomes essential to be able to publish photos or updates of private life, which would still be avoided.
2) Letting go of extremist positions and arguing with bright tones is something not to be done on Facebook.
When you have hundreds of friends and acquaintances who read what is published on Facebook, you have to consider that there are different people from all types of reality, with different jobs, beliefs, ideals, religious faith, political party and so on.
Updating the state with a political or social extremist statement can be unpleasant or even offensive to many.
Of course, arguing about sports or politics without behaving like an ultras is always fun and if someone is offended, there will be a reason for it.
Sometimes I see people who criticize the comments of a friend of their friend, without even knowing him, which can be embarrassing not only for those who comment, but also for the common friend.
3) Be careful with generic messages and MEMEs, that is with those images that have the message embedded.
We have already seen how to create memes with writings on images and on the internet there are really many already made.
Since these memes are often nice ways to make sarcasm, it is never known that some friend can feel called into question by the message and, therefore, think it is addressed to him giving wrong interpretations.
Written things are interpreted with the tone of voice of whoever reads them and not of those who write them, therefore a different meaning can be attributed to them, easily passing from sarcastic to offensive.
4) Be careful also not to publish or reshare those messages from chain of St. Anthony such as, for example, those messages to be shared with at least 10 people to have luck in life, those who announce Facebook for a fee, those who ask for blood or money to help someone who is about to die, those who report phantom and unverified social or political plots etc.
Publishing these fake things as well as annoying for others, is like spreading a virus and it's called spamming, which can also lead to the permanent ban on Facebook.
Before sending status updates on a social cause, make sure it is real.
5) A good rule of conduct on Facebook is therefore to pay attention to what and how to write it .
We can neither hear the tone of voice nor see the body language when the other person 'speaks'.
In other words, it is easy for someone to think they are sarcastic when they are not, or to be misunderstood in making bad jokes.
An always positive way to compensate for the lack of ideas is to use emoticons and smileys on Facebook.
Showing a smile eases any kind of tension.
6) Not responding to comments, especially if they are questions, is really a rude behavior.
If you publish a status update and someone comments asking for more information, you must reply or at least click on the Like under the comment. .
7) Avoid commenting on any post from a friend or special friend.
Attracting attention is one thing, looking like a stalker is another.
Hard to believe that their status updates always appear at the top of the news.
It is obvious that on Facebook you have fun peeking at the profiles of friends to see what they do and what they write, but it is better not to let a person know that you check his profile every day and every hour.
What's worse is that other friends may notice these special attentions and you risk being talked about behind.
8) Making friend requests to strangers is something to be avoided.
Some people have this idea (I am one of them) that the number of "friends" on Facebook represents a popularity rating in real life.
This may be true if these "friends" are actually known people, but if they are random people, then it is completely useless and harmful.
In the article on the rules and secrets of making friends in Facebook we also pointed out that the social network system punishes those who send too many requests for friendship even with the ban or exclusion from Facebook.
8) Tag your friends in pictures that do nothing.
Until some time ago (and still today in a minor form) the method of attracting attention to something was widespread by publishing a graphic announcement on an image (such as an invitation to an event or a greeting card) by tagging all friends.
In the end when you go to look at your personal photos you will find more images of this type than real photos which is not at all beautiful.
Fortunately, for some time now on Facebook you can activate the tag check and reject these tags.
9) Say everything you do and eat
We understand that there is a desire to share what we do on Facebook but writing it every hour can really become boring for others.
The same applies to those who publish photos of what they eat at lunch and dinner, in restaurants or at home.
Keep in mind that just a click is enough to hide a friend without removing the friendship and not making his updates appear on the news flow anymore (just put the mouse cursor on his name and then on "Friends").
10) Bragging about your work is always something that annoys others.
The wrong thing is not to share your satisfaction with professional and personal success, but to boast of being someone by showing yourself better than others.
This way of behaving is annoying in reality and, even more, in the social network.
It can also be noticed by other colleagues, office managers or customers who they may not like.
The place to boast of your professional skills and experience is not Facebook but Linkedin, the social business.
Finally, other types of status updates that are really annoying for everyone to read are:
- Commercial communications or advertising of various activities or discount vouchers (if it is your own it is fine, otherwise it becomes annoying).
- Vague messages that force others to ask what happened.
- Always publish sentences from song lyrics.
- Publish the hashtags and the symbology of Twitter (Twitter is not Facebook, better not to publish what you write on Twitter also on Facebook, vice versa is better instead).
- Writing in the third person is rather ridiculous
- Change the name or surname into strange things to make a scene or to hide
- Use a profile shared in two people
- Publishing the SomeEcards or Ask.fm questions is the most annoying thing there can be.
READ ALSO: Facebook stereotypes: types and categories of "Facebookers"
In conclusion, behaving well on Facebook is a personal choice every day and it is obvious that, from time to time, one must find one's balance, sharing one's thoughts freely without fear of offending anyone.
On the one hand, we must not absolutely limit our creativity and the spontaneity of our social interactions, but on the other hand we must also be aware of the public dimension of Facebook, protect our privacy and, at the same time, respect that of others.
The following labels are therefore not something that everyone should strictly adhere to, rather they are guidelines for improving their business on Facebook and understanding what others may not like (since the I don't like button is not there).
Here are other useful guides:
- How and where to report abuse and report abuse on Facebook
- What is allowed and what is not on Facebook
- Block friends or stalkers on Facebook in 5 ways
- What friends and strangers see about me on Facebook; guide to privacy settings
