The Dangers of Facebook

Facebook is a fantastic thing. It makes you want to open mouth kiss Mark Zuckerburg for creating it. You can chat with friends and family, no matter the distance, and share photos and experiences. Unfortunately, it's also a terrible thing. It's made many people in my generation forget manners altogether.

I have a few pet peeves when it comes to status updates. Here's the thing, I don't need to know EVERYTHING about your life. I don't need to know the size and consistency of every single bowel movement you make. On the same note, I don't need to know every single thing you've done in the past 48 hours. (I actually had a FB friend write about her menstruation today. I'm not kidding. I almost barfed). I also hate poor grammar and lack of correct punctuation. I understand that it's Facebook, but I can promise you that you DO look ridiculous when you cannot accurately convey your own thoughts in your own language. Do it for your own image.

But all of these things, while annoying, are somewhat tolerable. What I find completely unbearable are two things: airing dirty laundry and passive aggressive posts.

To the first, there's no excuse. Just because we have Facebook does NOT mean that everyone on your friends list should know your family drama. It's rude. Try, if you can, to remember a time WITHOUT Facebook. We never would've thought back then to go onto a semi-public website to let everyone know who's getting hitched, who broke up, and if someone got knocked up, ESPECIALLY when you're not even involved. It's rude. It's someone else's business. Let them tell the people they choose to tell. The role of town gossip has jumped from the beauty parlors of old and is now on News Feeds across the country. It's just as easy to earn a bad online reputation. In fact, with Facebook going public, employers, friends and family may find it harder to excuse your boorish behavior when their business has been splattered all over the web.

Now, onto my personal favorite, the passive aggressive statuses. I'll admit, I may have written one or two in my time. I'm not proud of them. The mantra I try to live by though is that if I wouldn't say it right to your face, I'm NOT going to put it online for others to see. It's not the adult thing to do. Writing something passive aggressive, or even flat out aggressive is nothing more than childish. Believe it or not, people are smart enough to put two and two together. We all know who you're talking about, and YOU look like the a-hole. Perhaps I'm alone, but the first person in any argument to start blasting someone on Facebook is in the wrong in my mind. You've now taken the fight online, so the entire world to see, and you've lowered yourself to the point that even if your argument was a valid one, you still appear to be the one who has some growing up to do.

Facebook can be a dangerous place. There are privacy settings for a reason. Just remember though that words, whether spoken or written have a lot of power. Just as you cannot take back something you've said, you can't take back something you've written, even when you hit that little delete button.

Be an adult, be professional, and remember tact. While the world is shrinking quickly, it's still a dangerous place. Think before you post anything. Have fun, but take a step back and THINK before you click "Share". In the end, you'll always be happy you did.