Since Facebook stomped its footprint in the world, people have used the social media giant for many different purposes: sharing photos, posting videos, promoting businesses and fundraisers and, of course, liking and commenting on everything.
There are some people that use Facebook the “right” way. They will post a meaningful status and/or photos about something monumental and exciting that happened to them. These events may include getting into college or having a baby. Even an anniversary is acceptable. Also, I love a humorous status as much as the next guy.
However, according to a statistic I estimated for this story, 98 percent of the stuff that people post is absolute junk that no one cares about.
“I hate work,” “Can’t wait for this day to be over” and the brand new dating couple that posts how “I love my boyfriend/girlfriend so much I don’t know what I’d do without them @(insert name)” are all horrible posts. That’s the kind of stuff that can be left off and deserves an automatic hide from your feed. No one cares.
Are we supposed to feel sorry for you that you have three finals and a project due tomorrow and you waited until the night before to do any of it? Because the answer is a resounding no. That was poor planning. If you have to say something like that, get a Twitter and post it. Nobody will pay attention to it, but you’ll feel better about yourself that the information is out there.
Also, I like to go by a specific rule when I post on another person’s wall. If you can say it in a text message or e-mail, it doesn’t belong on Facebook. If it’s an inside joke between more than two people, that’s fine. But seeing “Thanks for a fun weekend” or “How are you doing” on a wall post needs to stop. Facebook comes with a great little tool called private chat. Use it.
Now, for the real point of this story, the holidays. On that day known as Christmas, many people have that unsettling urge to write “Merry Christmas” on about 10 – 500 people’s walls. Please don’t. Spend that precious time with your families cooking, opening presents, singing, going to church, etc.
Also, let’s be clear, mass text messages saying “Merry Christmas” are not acceptable substitutes.
If you’re a close friend of mine, I’d love to see some pictures of your Christmas celebrations. That being said, put a limit on the photos. If I see an album with 256 pictures, I’m not going to waste my time. If you want people to look at them, take the time to filter out the ones where your grandpa accidentally took a picture of his nose hair.
Social media is intended to bring people together through experiences. Even though childhood friends may be on different parts of the world, they can keep up through Facebook and know where they work, if they have kids, or if they went on a fun vacation.
Basically, people want to know if their friends are happy in their lives. They don’t care if you’re excited about the featured foot long of the month from Subway.
Please, be smart about what you’re putting on the Internet. Think to yourself: Is anyone besides me going to care about what I’m about to post? If you have to second guess yourself, log off immediately.
