I’ve had a Facebook account for a little over two years now, and considering I’ve become somewhat of a Facebook pundit *based on the opinions of the five people sitting next to me*, I think I know a thing or two about bad etiquette on and offline. There are a lot of things I let slide, but others just get underneath the subcutaneous tissue of my skin and I’m sure similar issues arise on other social sites as well. As such, I feel obligated to point out some of the obvious Facebook etiquette rules that people continue to break, in the hopes that one day, they think twice before posting.

drunk_girls

Updating your status with cryptic messages

sweet oh luscious life, celebrate your dreams while you are away. doesn’t it taste so sweet? like it’s growing on the trees
I’ll admit that sometimes cryptic messages can be quite poetic but it’s usually pretty obvious that they are intended for a particular person. Otherwise, you must find yourself terribly interesting and have a strong need for people to ask “Ooooooh, I wonder what that means.” It’s like including everyone to feel excluded.

Sending a HUGE mass private message so that whenever any one of the 200 people respond to it, you think you have new and exciting mail

new_messages

I would say that nearly half of the messages I get are no longer aimed at me personally. I think others would agree that it is hugely disappointing and gnawingly frustrating to see you have a New Message in your inbox, only to find out you have yet again been the target of another group invite, cause or event that you want no part of.

Countdowns

“38 days until my wittle sweetiepie comes home !!!” (read: Aw-ful.)

Chain statuses asking you to post whatever it is in YOUR status to “spread the word”

Argh! I get these kinds of messages all the time, either from the aggressive hard-sellers, or the notorious do-gooders. Honestly, it truly is very sad that over a billion ants die each year from people stepping on them, but please, pretty please, stop monopolizing my News Feed with impractical ideals. I’m all for good causes, but when the same person continuously asks me to get involved, my kindness begins to wear thin and eventually I’ll just ignore them.

Pregnancy/Baby Picture Overload

pregnant

I made the mistake of adding a girl I went to high school with even though we were never really friends. She was now married with a newborn on the way, but also seemed to think she was beginning a career as a pregnant model over FB. Until I realized that you could hide people from your News Feed I would be bombarded with pictures of her in negligees flaunting her big pregnant belly from over 400 different angles. (Don’t even get me started on the ultra-sounds!) When her son was finally born, it then became an incursion of baby pictures. Cute, but after 10, 20, 500 pictures, I got the point. The way I see it, if you’re going to be one of those people that adds everyone they’ve ever met, then your friends list likely includes a good three quarters of people who don’t really give a horse’s snot what your baby’s poop looks like.

Calling in sick for work yet making your status “Crazy Night… Still Bombed!”

douche

If you’re going to lie, then for Pete’s sake, do it right, would you?

Posting awful pictures of people and tagging them

double_chin

I think it’s pretty self-explanatory why this is bad form.

Adding work colleagues to your network but continuing to include the time you were naked in a hot tub filled with Jell-O

ray_lam

People never cease to amaze me with their utter disregard for who might see them on a medium as public as FB. If you’re going to add your work colleagues to your social network, then you should fix your settings so that only select people can see your racy content. An NDP candidate in Vancouver had to step down after several photos on his FB page were deemed inappropriate. One picture showed him clutching a woman’s breast, while another showed two people tugging at his underwear. Visitors didn’t even have to be signed up as his friend in order to view them.

Dissing your workplace/co-workers/boss whilst forgetting they are part of your network

I think this girl’s mistake says it all:

fb_fail

Carrying out personal conversations only you and another person are in on

A few inside jokes here and there, no problem whatsoever. It’s the grossly personal exchanges that are made public anyway which make me feel guilty for even looking. Again, an action which makes everyone feel inclusively excluded.

Posting important news (death, wedding, pregnancy) instead of calling people individually

You’d think it would be pretty straightforward- the more important the information, the more personal the venue used to disclose that information should be. How would you feel if you found out your sister was pregnant because you happened to check her FB status? Or that Granny passed away because Mom thought it would be more convenient to let everyone know through FB. Shouldn’t those closest to you find out before your acquaintances? If it’s going to be through FB, make it timely, be sure you’ve let the crucial people know first, and at the very least, send out a private message.

Application Overload

barn_buddies
I don’t care what Chinese symbol you are, that you have completed Level 1 of cabbage mastery in Farm Ville, or that you’ve expanded your farm on Barn Buddy, if there is a button you can press not to share that information, you would do us all a favor by pressing it.

Breaking up over FB

Perhaps you recall the Daily Mail article about the British guy who divorced his wife over FB.  Lancashire resident Neil Brady decided to change his relationship status on FB to “Neil Brady has ended his marriage to Emma Brady”. Emma only found out she was single after getting a call from Denmark, from a friend asking her “how she was hanging in”. Breaking up is never easy, but using FB as a means of doing it, that is more than bad manners, my friend.

Adding people you’re not friends with

Not that I’m adverse to meeting new people, but call me old fashioned if I prefer getting to know someone in the flesh. I’ve had people from Greece to Guadalupe requesting to be my friend. I’ve discovered that I had been getting a person’s name wrong until actually seeing it spelled out when they tried to add me. I’ve even had someone ask me if I was on FB instead of asking for my number. I’m not sure what it is people need to prove by having a friends’ list of over 1,000 people (excluding those who use social sites for marketing). According to Barry Wellman, a sociologist at the University of Toronto, the average person has about 120 “friends” on Facebook. In real life, most people have an average of three very close friends and about 20 they would consider “pretty close to”. The fact that you’ll just add someone you don’t know in order to build up a number doesn’t make your “friendly” intentions seem very genuine.

Google Reader or Homepage
Add to My Yahoo!

77 comments

Posted by sharon fisher at 12:53 pm at 27. October 2009

Speaking of cryptic messages, how about the ones where people offhandedly indicate they’re having some sort of crisis but don’t say what it is.

Posted by AAA Copywriter at 1:10 pm at 27. October 2009

This isn’t netiquette, simply plain good old common sense. :)

Alex

Posted by Kar Manning at 4:05 pm at 27. October 2009

Common sense isn’t so common these days– Love the article!

Posted by Lisa Marie at 12:52 am at 28. October 2009

oh dear god yes…i hate the applications and invites to join causes…i even made my name stop inviting me to join causes and games! nobody listened..no i go in to check messages and then log out completly..i only check it once every couple of weeks anyway.

Posted by katie at 12:58 am at 28. October 2009

This is nothing but a boom in marketing which is forcing everyone to add more friends (to promote their stuff) and applications (monitory aspects). Although, bigger sites are now making sure that even if you have lots of friends you can’t request them to review, digg, stumble your promotions. Still i feel posting illicit images is a major problem especially if you are working in office or sitting at home with your child.

Posted by daniel post senning at 9:43 am at 28. October 2009

Great post. Being a facebook user in the world of etiquette I really appreciate the substance and the good humor.

Posted by Random Guy at 12:31 pm at 28. October 2009

Aside from the professionally related rules, which should be common sense to anyone with a job where it matters what you say on your Facebook, the rest of this article reads as a laundry list of things that you personally don’t like.

If you have such an issue with things that make you feel excluded, or baby pictures, chain status updates, or cryptic updates, perhaps you can put the feeds of the culprits on hide, or disable your Facebook account and keep your self righteous microcosm intact. Nobody will alienate you from humanity if your ostracize yourself of your own free will.

Posted by just a note at 1:25 pm at 28. October 2009

On the friends comment… his count didn’t factor in family. I have about 110 fb “friends”. Some are friends, some are members of groups I’m involved in, and good percentage are family members. Now, some of them I haven’t met, but I wouldn’t have ever met them if not for fb. Just a note.

Posted by Bryan Irrera at 1:53 pm at 28. October 2009

The only one of these that I have to disagree with is the “application overload” one. Why? Because you can always choose to hide individual applications from your newsfeed. I want to see the updates from Farmville (the lost animals to adopt, etc. because they give me things to advance in my own game) and don’t want to see updates from Mafia Wars (I don’t play that game). Simple: I click “hide” in the top right of the status update and then choose from “hide ___insert person’s name here__” and “hide ___insert application here___”. Just as you can remove the people who post way too many pictures of their baby, you can also remove the updates that are specific to certain apps…

Posted by Mary at 2:29 pm at 28. October 2009

Thanks for all your comments.

@Bryan While I certainly agree that the Hide button can easily make many of these problems go away, what I’m suggesting is for some people to consider diminishing the amount of superfluous information they post so people don’t have to constantly hide and block people in their news feed. The etiquette rules I’ve pointed out are suggestions as to what may bother some of their Facebook friends.

Posted by Melanie at 3:14 pm at 28. October 2009

I’m with Random Guy — this really does just read like a list of things that annoy you personally. So, that’s not etiquette, this is really a primer on how not to annoy one person on Facebook.

Posted by Neil at 3:41 pm at 28. October 2009

Melanie & Random Guy – no, Mary is 100% right. The worrying bit is that you think those things are acceptable behaviour. Etiquette is, in part, about manners and the so-called “laundry list” are all extremely poor manners, at best. At worst, they’re are pathetically anti-social.

Neil

Posted by Noreen Thompson at 4:56 pm at 28. October 2009

My in-laws all feel like I personally attack them over face book in my status message, but the fact of the matter is I have another family in which they are not apart of. I guess this is why you shouldn’t add your in laws to any of your pages.

Posted by Dorfmunder at 6:08 pm at 28. October 2009

I am so sick of people posting every morsel they put in their mouth. We get it, you eat trendy and/or homemade comfort food and we are all SO impressed.

Posted by dj adelaide at 7:59 pm at 28. October 2009

great post, i hate it when people use facebook simply to promote themselves without any regard for others! if i see someone’s status update and think to myself “i don’t give a damn about what this person did today” then i delete them from my profile!

Posted by Melanie at 8:28 pm at 28. October 2009

Neil, in what universe is posting your personal pictures on your personal facebook (or flickr or myspace or whatever) page a breach of etiquette? If Mary doesn’t like it, she can hide the feed. But it’s not a breach of etiquette, it’s just annoying, like many of the things she’s listed here.

Posted by Laurel at 10:34 pm at 28. October 2009

I was about to post this link on my Facebook, but realized that I have a few close friends who are guilty of doing all of these at some point. I agree these are very annoying.

Posted by Zombie at 10:59 pm at 28. October 2009

People using Facebook as a political soapbox. I’ve started ignoring a few old college pals because they won’t stop ranting about politics, and even managing to work snide political comments into innocuous or personal updates.

Posted by Manticore at 11:42 pm at 28. October 2009

just more reasons for me never to get a stupid fucking facebook. ugh.

Posted by misandry at 8:49 am at 29. October 2009

oh god the baby pictures. I’m happy for my friends and stuff, sure. But all the baby pictures. ugh. It really annoys me that my friends who have babies change their profile pic to their kid. If nothing else it’s confusing! LOL

Posted by Shay Collazo at 11:04 am at 29. October 2009

well said, well written.

I try to keep my friends list to people I can be myself around. I feel I can indulge in small improprieties, such as potty mouth and photo overload of my art.

thanks for writing on this topic, I am going to pare down my friends list (again), no kidding!

Posted by MC Router at 11:42 am at 29. October 2009

“I DON’T CARE THAT YOU’VE REACHED LVL 1 IN CABBAGE MASTERY!” HAHAHHAHAHAHA

Facebook – Kristin Nicole Ritchie

Posted by Gian M. from Italy at 1:59 pm at 29. October 2009

I’m a fb member since 2007, but I’m seriously reconsidering the fact. I simply find there are too different people within my fb friends: real-life friends, colleagues, my mom, my girlfriend, members of my family at large, ex school-mates. A nightmare! So I posed myself this question: Why should I gather in the same place people I would never mix in the real life? Why to be obliged to mix present and past so oddly? Now I’ve set my privacy options as strictly as possible and I’ve reduced radically my nonchalance when writing a post etc. Quitting fb sounds me too radical, but using it exploiting only 10% of its features sounds quite empty… However, the net is a public place and fb too as a part of it.

Posted by Holly at 2:45 pm at 29. October 2009

Most of this stuff is just your personal pet peaves. Little of what you mentioned has to do with actual etiquette. If you don’t like what people do with their own Facebook pages, then drop them as friends and get over it.

Posted by Jerri at 2:52 pm at 29. October 2009

I agree with many of your ideas. I do not have a desire to have 1000’s of friends or that it’s a contest. I have made my own personal rule of no in-laws. I found I was altering my posts so as to be angelic enough to impress my inlaws. It’s worked out great. I can now be who I want to be. I had a friend who was in a local stage production and told us all every little detail while imploring everyone to buy tickets several times a day. I deleted him from my list-my option. My daughter-in-law is a cryptic writer. It drives me crazy but at least it contact. And one friend writes about what he’s making for dinner. While it sounds delicious it’s boring. He’s on my “maybe” delete list if he doesn’t post something else soon. And I know many young people who have been passed over for employment due to poor FB posts.

Posted by Viz at 3:26 pm at 29. October 2009

I agree with some of these. The point is not each behavior, but overdoing it. I mean, I like to see my friends’ baby pictures, but not hundreds of them. I don’t mind seeing an application show up, I’ll ignore it.
It’s surely easier when u have a limited number of friends. I know all the people in my friends list, and some time I even clean it up when there is people I am unlikely to be in contact with again. I find it annoying too.

I’d like to point out a couple of things I really dislike:
- updating the status with everything you do: e.g: Viz is in a bar drinking a beer with Jim and Mike // Viz is buying carrots // Viz is this and that. Who cares?
- creating/becoming member of the most banal groups: People that like kissing; People that are against child abuse; People that like to have breakfast. So?

Posted by Rob at 3:59 pm at 29. October 2009

As a fan of fb, I disagree with most of your “rules.” In short, fb is what individual users want it to be. They don’t do fb for you, they do it for themselves. If someone has content that breaks your “rules,” then defriend them or “hide” them. It’s that simple.

Posted by Mary at 4:43 pm at 29. October 2009

Thanks again for all your comments. It’s certainly interesting to read about all the different perspectives people have regarding Facebook and Facebook etiquette (or lack thereof ;) .

Information technology is still a relatively new concept for most people and in many ways we are still in the beginning stages of developing our own methods of “sifting through the trash” (so to speak) and making decisions on what to do with all that information available to us on the world wide web. Read it, ignore it, the same applies to Facebook. I’m just taking a humorous approach to bringing up some of the issues that me, my friends, my coworkers have agreed are annoying, distasteful FB behaviours and find out what other people think.

Posted by charlie at 8:46 pm at 29. October 2009

Hi Mary,
I was wondering if you could either remove or blur the photo of the girl in the photo with the NDP candidate.
She is a close friend of mine, and was extremely upset to see her make national headlines. thankfully the media was kind enough to blur her photo and spare her the indignity of attention.
so please remove or at the very least blur this picture.
as a courtesy at least.

also as a by the way, it wasn’t on his page, but on a friends, and he wasn’t tagged.
that was just some dirty digging by an opposing candidate.

cheers.

Posted by Spicy Boughner at 8:51 pm at 29. October 2009

Wouldn’t it be just a tad bit easier to not, you know, take facebook so seriously? I mean after all it is…facebook.

At the same time, I really wish they had just left it open to college/academia type folks and alumni, stuff like that.

Posted by Gian M. from Italy at 12:37 pm at 30. October 2009

For Rob:
The big misunderstanding is that facebook is actually a public place, not a private one. Your fb home page should be condidered as the main square of your village, not as your living room.

Posted by Andrew at 7:18 pm at 30. October 2009

I hope you realize that as of January of this year, 53% of Facebook users are under the age of 24, the demographic Facebook was intended for. It was originally made for a virtual hangout for one single college. It caught on but it has still has the same idea. A place for college and now high school students to communicate and “hang out” in a virtual world. I personally disagree with your etiquette rules. Facebook was made for young people. If you don’t want to be in a virtual world or disagree with their ways, with them then you can leave.

Posted by PrincessG at 3:30 pm at 31. October 2009

I have to say that to no one has to read anything I post on MY facebook page. I hide post that I don’t have an interest in reading. The day I go to post something and I have to worry about who I may upset or offend is the day I start deleting people or I just leave facebook all together.

I think the issue is that people don’t want to delete those that annoy them because they still want the ability to nose around on their page. you can’t really have it both ways and you absolutely can’t take facebook that seriously.

Posted by Patrick D. at 12:12 am at 1. November 2009

I have to agree with a large group of people here. These rules aren’t rules of etiquette. They’re your personal gripes. I do what I want with my stream. If someone doesn’t like it, they’re free to hide apps or drop me altogether. I’m not curtailing my life because someone doesn’t like me to post pics of my kids.

Posted by Sarah P. at 1:21 pm at 2. November 2009

I loved your post, it is so true, each and everyone. Please keep it up. It was written with humour also.

Posted by Ian at 1:00 am at 4. November 2009

One can call these etiquettes but I consider them pet peeves by different people. Anyway, one can always ignore by hiding these posts or to some extreme dropping them from your list. I enjoyed the article and made me chuckle too.

Posted by E'Ronda at 12:34 pm at 4. November 2009

Ok…..seriously >>> get a life!!! This is a communication site amongst friends & newcomers…. & they can do as they want, however they want >>> ON THEIR PAGE!!! ” (It doesn’t say much for ppl that take the time to go on another’s page & comment about what pix they have up & what it is that’s bein’ said on THEIR page…) I have an idea, its a good one>>>> If u don’t like what they post don’t look…. & further more get OFF FB >>> if u don’t like how they CONDUCT things here…>> Period, enuff said….. (My MAJOR PET PEEVE>>> Is ppl that take the time & find things to ridicule & complain about & try to make it a BIG DEAL to others, it is simply ridiculous!!! ) Let’s go get a life….. & maybe these lil’ things that bother u About FB, won’t bother u sooooo much!!! It says lil’ for anyone that spends all their wakin’ moments on here & takes this site too serious, really…. lol….. ;) *** I will say ond thing >>>U had a point on a few things (such a the mass emails & advertisin’ sent to inboxes), but not enuff 2 target & make it a concern to others… >>> U went WAY OVER BOARD on the majority… Ppl should be allowed to express themselves however they see fit!!!! That’s what makes us our own individuals amongst every 1 !!! I am a firm believer in self expressions & explorations….. Lettin’ ppl find themselves, especially through one’s mistakes is how they will learn… not anyone indirectly pointin’ it out to them, be it in what ever & how ever they do it…. Ok this is my take on this…. FYI, don’t bother replyin’ to me directly about what it is I had to say cuz I really don’t care what u think about what I think… My skin is tougher then a few words typed here that u might think would bother me… I usually don’t respond to such silliness but someone had to respond in this manner…. & who better then me… cuz I do half this stuff & find nuttin’ wrong w/ it…. I find MUCH wrong in ppl who do, especially when it doesn’t pertain to them!!! Ppl r ppl, soooo just let it be… Live life to the fullest & don’t sweat the small stuff…. & for those who do…. >>> There is a book out there to HELP u with those issues…. ;)

Posted by Steve at 3:45 pm at 4. November 2009

I absolutely hate it when a couple exchange “I love you my sexy little sweetie pie” for all to read. Come on you wankers. If you are so insecure in your relationship get some therapy. No one wants to read that you miss each other, love each other or are still glowing from the night before.

Posted by Occasional FB USer at 3:59 pm at 4. November 2009

Hahaha. is this comment ^ a joke? I like how the comment saying “get a life” and “don’t sweat the small stuff” is the longest one.

The town square comment is a good one. Sure, people should be allowed to “express themselves” (although that is a very over-dramatic way of defining some facebook activities), but the fact is you need to be respectful. The view “it’s my page and you can just block it” is very self serving. You don’t walk up to every one of your friends every time you see them in public and thrust 200 pictures of your pregnant stomach in their face do you? They could tell you to go away, but it is just plain manners not to put them in that position in the first place. In the digital age, why should online social networking be any different?

Posted by emmers at 7:49 pm at 4. November 2009

@ E’Ronda…I Can’t even READ your message. You’re all for self-expression, yet I have to decode your writing…Great article, Mary.

Posted by KidRock at 1:56 pm at 5. November 2009

Your article sucks. I think you are kind of a jerk.
Having a baby is a beautiful thing, and while I’m not a mother or pregnant, at least I have the patience to understand that it is the most important part of their life.

Don’t be a selfish ***hole and spend your time doing something better with yourself because this is obviously not your strong point. Most of it just sounds like a rambling bafoon.

Posted by BlueCaribe at 11:48 pm at 5. November 2009

I think of FB as a diner where friends drop in and say hello, share their news, etc. Blocking ‘overposters’ is one way of managing your news feed, as well as blocking applications.

My key management technique is tagging people into groups, i.e. Friends, Family, Alumni, Mafia War buds, etc. That way I can click on each group to see what’s new in that common world. I want to know when my MW buds need help. I want to see pix of a friends new baby. I want to know what my family is up to.

As far as what I post…I try to keep it current, fresh and definitely keep highly personal stuff personal. I also use common sense about adding friends. LinkedIN for business and Facebook for fun and never the twain shall meet!

Posted by woo879 at 1:22 am at 6. November 2009

I would also add the perpetually depressed or manic depressive posts- get a therapist and for heaven’s sake do not enable them!

Posted by blt at 4:05 am at 7. November 2009

what a bunch of elitist crap. “Hey I don’t like what you do so I’m going to force my opinions on how you should act, on you”

If you don’t like it, don’t add them as your friend. fuckin simple eh?

Posted by Don at 4:05 pm at 8. November 2009

If you only want the person you sent the message toreply. Then send them a private message.

Posted by BigCheese at 6:29 pm at 8. November 2009

I hope you aren’t one of those ugly sluts at the top.

Posted by Ken Pasco at 4:52 pm at 9. November 2009

I agree with the article. Who gives a shit how you did playing Farkle? And Yes, all the postings of babies are B-0-R-I-N-G!!!!!!! All the postings are mainly of people who have a dull life but want to assert themselves in some fashion. Sure, go ahead, but I won’t be reading it.

Posted by King at 1:18 pm at 10. November 2009

The internet is overrated…I’m gonna get a job that never requires me to use a computer. I swear my IQ has dropped by half since I started using the new “idiot machine”.

Posted by Will at 1:27 pm at 10. November 2009

You’re an oversensitive idiot.

Posted by AJS at 10:29 am at 18. November 2009

I think you make a lot of good points. Sure, it’s a personal page, but I don’t think many people would say the things they post in the middle of the town square. People seem to have this idea that they are safe on the internet and they really aren’t… especially when they friend people like their co-workers, professors, etc. I get annoyed, but my one consolation is they will get screwed over in the end.

Posted by Mike at 4:47 pm at 18. November 2009

I am actually a senior in college (for those of you who don’t know, we used to be the only ones allowed in to FB), and I deleted my facebook junior year because of basically all of the points you made on this post, not to mention countless others like say, having everyone know what I’m doing all the time. Facebook USED to be good. It WAS a fun, nice way to keep in touch and meet people. Then they wanted more ad revenue, so they let every other moron on and made it exactly like myspace.

I hate the narcissistic culture we live in where everyone thinks that everyone else cares about each inane thought that crosses their mind. That’s the way it is though.

Posted by Patrick D. at 6:59 pm at 18. November 2009

Boo-hoo, would you like a tissue, you bunch of whiners? ‘I used Facebook when it was still cool’ is exactly like those douuchebags who liked some band BEFORE they got big and ’sold out to the man’. Then get off Facebook and shut the hell up, you elitist snob.

Posted by lisa at 12:42 pm at 22. November 2009

Thank You! I mean WTF use some common sense, people seem to think that they are somehow invincible through the internet; My 3 simple rules: Never embarrass or humiliate anyone, keep your personal business between you and your friends, and don’t post anything your mother can’t look at!

Posted by Rdn at 5:21 pm at 22. November 2009

so what if what is etiquette for you is not so much so for me?

just like people to try to force their beliefs on everyone else

i mean really if it is something like an add invite and you dont want to do it, just simply dont, i mean i know you are a super star, but sometimes, you have to come back down here with us normal folk…..

Posted by Fred at 12:47 am at 28. November 2009

My favorite are the people who address each other with “@name”. This isn’t twitter, and you’re not cooler or more trendy and hip by spelling “@name” instead of “name,” or “name:”. In fact, it makes you look ridiculous.

Posted by MeMe at 2:15 pm at 8. December 2009

so what if someone posts cryptic status updates? if they don’t want to be understood, who cares? look at the next person’s profile instead, and leave it alone. the world doesn’t revolve around you. some people really are self-important pricks.

Posted by MeMe at 2:26 pm at 8. December 2009

actually, anyone who thinks compiling an “etiquette” for whatever is worth the effort has probably too much time at their hands, and a disgustingly bloated ego. take a deep breath, relax. a lot of people will keep doing things in a lot of ways that you don’t approve of, and it’s not the end of the world.

Posted by piper at 5:32 am at 13. December 2009

if you dont like it when ppl do that stuff then dont go on fb. its a place for ppl to do those things and proud mothers will post whatever they feel like.

Posted by Chris Grau at 4:05 am at 14. December 2009

I cannot stand the people that write these blogs about how everyone needs to use facebook the exact way the writer does. fuck you, get a life and if you do not like someones facebook page, DONT ACCEPT THEM AS FRIENDS DUMBASS

Posted by Invicta Lupah Watch at 2:27 pm at 19. December 2009

Rules were meant to be broken. Its never going to be completely clean.

Posted by Ben at 6:54 pm at 19. December 2009

Nice collection! :) I was particularly amused by the girl who dissed her boss.

I have a friend who periodically complains on her status about how she is getting fat and can’t stop eating. Sometimes I just feel like shutting her up. :/

Anyway, I found this site because an ex-colleague I find extremely childish and annoying has sent me an invite on FB. This puts me in a conundrum because on the one hand I do not like to be rude and reject invitations from people I know; on the other hand this person does not respect personal boundaries and will probably bug the hell out of me once she’s on my list.

Posted by Ben at 6:58 pm at 19. December 2009

“actually, anyone who thinks compiling an “etiquette” for whatever is worth the effort has probably too much time at their hands, and a disgustingly bloated ego. take a deep breath, relax. a lot of people will keep doing things in a lot of ways that you don’t approve of, and it’s not the end of the world.”

Maybe you could take your own advice then? :)

Posted by BigJohn at 2:04 am at 22. December 2009

This and more defines exactly my reasons for not even being a part of facebook, myspace, or any other social networking site. I prefer to be anonymous on the net. All the noobs that are new to the interwebz don’t actually realize that they are making much of their private information available to ANYONE who wants to see it, not just their “friends”. Most of you should just go back to REAL social networking and leave the internet for those of us who know wtf to do with it. At least make it more difficult for others to exploit your stupidity.

Posted by Jordan Brooke at 2:56 am at 23. December 2009

The last one is kind of stupid. I mean what is the point of social networking if not to meet new and interesting people. If I know someone in real life I don’t need to talk to them on the Computer, between seeing them, talking to them on the phone and texting I have more than enough ways to keep on contact with someone without getting online, logging into face book and sending them a message.

And if you only use facebook to keep in touch with people you never see, you’re a very boring person and there’s probably a reason you never see them.

Posted by doe at 8:02 pm at 24. December 2009

For people complaining about photos – on your page FB only posts 3 preview thumbnails that could include an album of 100 photos…That’s all you see in the post – 3 previews, i.e. ONE LINE.

You have to click on the album to see all 100. So the people whining about not wanting to see other’s photos are bitching about something they are making an actual effort to participate in. They clicked and went snooping through their friends photos, making the effort on their behalf – then they complain about something they were the ones doing in the first place (looking).

Don’t click the link/album/photo preview if you don’t want to see the photos, people.

Also, it’s a free country and freedom of speech still applies to FB. If you actually deleted every person that did one of the things on this list, you’d have ZERO friends left. People will be people, good or bad, practice some acceptance, learn how to use the privacy and hide features, and yes, get over yourself. You cannot control how the world communicates..

I find that the insane diversity of styles is more entertaining. What I am offended or annoyed by, I hide or delete as a friend. Simple enough. Live and let live.

Posted by not cryptic at 1:25 am at 15. January 2010

that message is not cryptic at all. It’s a lyric from the patrick watson song: Luscious Life

Posted by Mr Blue at 12:23 pm at 15. January 2010

Almost everything on this list is stupid. You sound like the boring old retired people that complains on everything on public access radio. You know people who has no lifes, and just are bitter instead of trying to live. It is easy to manage the problems you have on facebook… just block applications that irritates you and block people that posts too much stuff that you don’t like. You just have one point: Telling about deaths and such should be in person, not public on the internet.

Posted by Mr Blue at 12:25 pm at 15. January 2010

… and I forgot… These are not rules. I have never seen them before and they are just your stupid inventions. No wonder nobody follows them.

Posted by Pouque at 3:16 pm at 17. January 2010

“Most of it just sounds like a rambling bafoon.”

Wow, the irony. Perhaps s/he meant “buffoon?”

Posted by KidRock at 3:23 pm at 17. January 2010

lol how is that Ironic? I spelled one word wrong. Oh man that must mean I’m stupid. If you read once in a while, you would know the definition of ironic, and realize it doesn’t apply here.

You’re the idiot.

Posted by Dave at 3:04 pm at 18. January 2010

Well done. Facebook should make everybody sign this before starting an account

Posted by dontgiveashit at 3:56 am at 19. January 2010

I got a few good laughs reading replies. People are strange and funny and inappropriate and annoying. Someone had a good point about creating friend groups or lists. That’s what I do. I personally prefer in person, live flesh interactions, but when I log onto the internet world will send a quick note, share music videos, reply to email, remark on post or status. I have the option of how to use or not use facebook. Don’t really give a fuck how others use it. I mean if someone posted kiddie porn or photos abusing animals that’s something truly inappropriate and bothersome.

Posted by bocefus at 10:36 am at 20. January 2010

Good to know you’re the boss of everyone, fag.

Posted by Janet Glover at 5:03 pm at 21. January 2010

I really like mary!!!!!!!!!Really! And she’s incredibly sexy.

Comment this article

Blog Roll

Chicklets

Google Reader or Homepage
Add to My Yahoo!