Social Media Etiquette(Facebook)

Compiled by: Charity Embley, M.Ed | Elms Learning Center | Goodwill Industries of Northwest Texas | Workforce Development

POSTING AND COMMENTINGIN FACEBOOK

(GOLD STANDARD OF SOCIAL MEDIA)

Facebook

• Friending and unfriending the main activityis to connect with your friends, family, andcolleagues both current and long-lost

• But if and when you discover that you don’treally care about what others do, you can trimdown your friend list

• Just do not announce that you are trimmingdown your friend list

Facebook

• Status updates: Facebook is all about the status update.

• After all, how else would you know what others are doing?

• But be careful not to abuse the five most obnoxious kinds of updates: intentionally vague posts, chronic complaining, meaningless calls to action, oversharing, and posting too frequently.

• Instead, ask yourself if you really need to share that thought with the world before you post it

PHOTOS IN FACEBOOK

Edit• You can simply upload snapshots through

your phone and let people click through attheir leisure.

• But just because you can share all picturesyou took on your long weekend, doesn’tmean you should.

• Edit down your comprehensive gallery to amore manageable number, and don't forgetto put the best shots first, just in case peopledon't make it all the way through the album.

Tag With Care• Tagging photos of your friends and family

with their names is a great way to shareyour photos, but not everyone wantspictures of themselves in a bathing suitsplashed across the Internet.

• So adopt the policy that the first time youpost a photo of someone, don’t tag him,but send an e-mail or message with a linkto the photo.

Tag With Care• Ask if it is okay for you to post the picture and

whether he is comfortable with being tagged inthe future.

• If you are concerned about the photos that yourconnections post, adjust your privacy settings sothat all tagged photos must be approved by youbefore they are linked to your profile.

• You can control which photos of you are ondisplay to your network.

Put Yourself In Your Friend’s Shoes

• As with many things, the golden rule isapplicable here—only post photos ofothers that you would want posted ofyou.

• So those photo of your friends on avacation somewhere is probably betteroff staying lost.

Go Ahead and Ask a Friend to Do the Same for You

• What if someone posts a photo of you thatyou don’t want online?

• It's okay to ask for it to be taken down.

• Start by removing your tag to make thephoto a bit harder for your other friends tofind.

• Then contact the person who posted thephoto and ask that it be removed.

PRIVACY AND SETTINGS

Who to Share

• If you’re the type who minds what yourfriends share while others are a bit morelaidback about what they share, yourbest option is to customize your settingsso you see only the updates you want.

• You broadcast your news only to thosefriends who will share it wisely

Who to Share

• To control who sees your status updates,before hitting “post” each time, click thedrop-down menu that says “friends” nextto the post button.

• By selecting “custom” you can choosewhich of your friends see (or are blockedfrom seeing) that specific link, photo, orstatus update.

WHAT’S THE MOST ANNOYING KIND OF FACEBOOK UPDATE?

24%

• Intentionally vague posts meantto generate concern andattention

• a.k.a. vaguebooking

• “I wonder whether it’s all beenworth the pain.”

20%• Chronic complaining, including posting your

personal woes/drama to solicit sympathy.

• “I am fed up with my boyfriend. He takes me for granted! So you want to leave? Go ahead, see if I care!” – feeling frustrated

• “Ugh, I ordered chicken, not beef! I am never ever going to that place!”

• “OMG! Some people really need to take a shower. Nuff said! SMH!”

19%• Meaningless calls to action.

• “If you want to fight world hunger, put the color of your socks as your status update for the whole day. Let us make a stand. Whoever makes a comment or asks a question, tag that person to take up the challenge”

14%

• Over-sharing.

• “Note to self: Next time, wear a slip with that wrap dress.”

13%

• Miscellaneous posts

• Including polarizing religious or political statements, unreadable txt spk, and game updates.

10%

• Posting too frequently.

• 12:03: Chicken salad or tuna?

• 12:12: Chicken! Thanks for the responses.

• 12:30: Mayo or mustard?

References

• Appenbrink, K. (2015). The guide to social media etiquette. Retrieved from http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/work-life-etiquette/manners/social-media-etiquette/

• Appenbrink, K. (2015). Practice Good Facebook Etiquette. . Retrieved from http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/technology/communication-etiquette/facebook-etiquette