Social Media: Facebook Part 1

This blog (ok, rant) has been a long time coming. Just ask Jackie Blue, Jenny Ransley or Haylo Watts. I often write comments that are probably a little too rude or controversial for actual Facebook in the form of a text message to them, accompanied by a screen shot of the offending Facebooker’s post. And my thoughts are so chunky I’ve had to split my guide (ok, rant) into two parts! In this world where digital socialising is just part of every-day life, I feel like we need more than unwritten vague ideas about how to behave. There needs to be an official ‘Rules of Facebook etiquette' book. And it should be policed! Happy to volunteer for that role. It should be written and published by a collection of people representing a range of demographics; people who will give it the most exposure. I’m going to suggest an epic team including Lady Gaga, Oprah Winfrey, One Direction, Megan Fox and Barrack Obama. Actually I should probably throw Mitt Romney into that mix to get all of America on-side. In the meantime I’m going to get started. Apologies if you find you are one of the offenders in my rant. Actually, let’s be honest, I’m not sorry at all.

The MOST IMPORTANT RULE for Facebook is, it’s not supposed to replace actual human interaction! It’s a way to share life experiences, it’s not life itself! When your Facebook life is more active than your actual life, it’s time to sit back and reassess. So go and get a life! Literally! Then tell me about it.    

Tagging – I don’t like being tagged in photos I’m not in. Tag me in a comment if you want to bring my attention to it but not the photo itself. This is just me being anal and correct but the ‘photos of me’ folder is called that for a reason. I’d rather keep it that way. I will untag myself. This does open up the little can of worms that is children. I can understand why some people may want to be tagged in photos of their children. I think in this case, it’s up to the individual. Obviously, not something I have to think about at this point in time.

Weather – “rain rain go away, come again another day”, “spring has sprung”, “hello summer” … Not only are these comments unoriginal and boring, but everyone else knows what Mother Nature is up to! Funnily enough, we’re in it too! Weird huh?!

Politics – Personally, I don’t think social networking sites are the best forum for political discussions. In fact, there are few social settings where I find it an appropriate topic of conversation. If you are going to get into debates though, please be respectful. Likewise, extreme religious views should be reserved for less public domains. After Bin Laden's death, I was disgusted by the comments that appeared on my news feed by people who officially fall under the same "religious" banner as me. But then I guess if your views are extreme, where you communicate them is probably not your priority.    

Grammar - Having studied languages, I’m really anal about getting it right. Not that I am error-free. I definitely make mistakes, usually typos. But it’s not typos I’m referring to. I could write a whole post about grammar alone but I think possibly Andy (my brother who has also studied linguistics) would be the only person to be fascinated by every word and use of punctuation. Instead, I’m going to highlight the three most common errors:

• Changing your status mid-sentence from 3rd to 1st person. First of all, Facebook dropped the ‘is’ after your name years ago so there should be no more 3rd person speak at all. If you must do it, please please please keep it in 3rd person. There’s nothing more annoying than reading “*name is enjoying the lasagna my mum cooked for me”. Technically, that post means Facebook’s mum cooked Facebook a lasagna and *name is enjoying watching Facebook eat said lasagna. Ok, there are definitely more annoying things, but it does annoy me more than is probably necessary. 
• Then vs than. Completely different words. Poor ol’ ‘than’ tends to be the victim, ‘then’ too often being an incorrect choice. Are you comparing one thing to another? It’s thAn! It’s so much hotter today thAn yesterday. Actually don’t write that, remember what I said about the weather? 
• Your vs you're. You hope my well is what?! I don’t get why so many get it wrong. You’re is a shortened version of YOU ARE; your refers to something belonging to the person you’re (you are) speaking to. 

Lovey-dovey business – Right, you’ve got a boyfriend/girlfriend/husband… happy for you. But please, leave the ‘get me a bucket’ stuff private. Your "baby" did not just graduate and sorry to tell you, nobody else wants to see you write love messages on each other’s wall. I especially hate it when people write messages to their ‘schnookums’ saying something that they would obviously have said in person, but put it on Facebook so that everyone else can see them saying it. e.g. "happy anniversary to my gorgeous baby *name… you are the love of my life and ...". Get a room! And don't post from it!

That’s literally only half of what I have to say… I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did letting it all out. I feel so much better now. I’d love to hear any thoughts about your Facebook experiences. What you love; what you hate etc. Stay tuned for part two, coming soon!