I know some of my classmates have had limited or no interaction with facebook, so I just wanted to clarify a few things. I’m somewhat of a facebook veteran, having used it for almost five years, and I’ve learned the ways in which you can use it without being a facebook creep. When facebook is used “correctly” it is a great tool to keep in touch with your friends, to contact people, and to learn what’s going on in the world.
But the people who “misuse” facebook are slowly killing it.
The first type of facebook misusers are the “I like to tell my entire life story on my facebook status” people. This week’s reading includes a few articles about people who detail their entire lives on their facebook statuses. Please, don’t think that every person with a facebook divulges their most personal thoughts on this site. That’s not to say that some people really do misuse facebook. There are people who chronicle their every thought and action on there, no matter how personal or uninteresting it is to the rest of the world. It’s extremely inappropriate to be discussing a law suit or a divorce on on there. Facebook is not the place for that, and that’s not how the site should be used. If a social networking site is where you go to tell people about your personal troubles, then you probably should get some actual friends. It annoys me because these people are giving facebook a bad reputation, and are slowing killing the site.
The second type of facebook misuser is the “I actually persuaded someone into being my significant other, so I’m going to suffocate you with pictures of us, and our relationship status”. These people very often are also the first type of facebook misusers. They use their facebook statuses to further push their relationship in your face. If you are willing to put your relationship on facebook for everyone to see, I have absolutely no sympathy for you when the breakup eventually occurs. One of the readings notes on how public the end of relationships can be on facebook, as if that’s facebooks fault. Facebook is not demanding that you put up your relationship status. You could simply not put a status down.
The third type of misusers are the “I’m so awesome that I get drunk and take pictures of it” people. Facebook gives you the freedom to post pictures of almost anything, so use that liberty correctly. If you get kicked out of school, go to jail, don’t get a job, or get fired from a job based on something you’ve done in pictures you posted, I don’t feel sorry for you. If you use facebook wisely, you shouldn’t have any problems. Also, if some damaging pictures of you do surface, you could simply untag them, so they don’t show up on your facebook.
The fourth type of misusers are the “I’m going to become a fan of everything on facebook”. I don’t really understand what the point of becoming a fan of what “not being on fire” is going to do. Really? You don’t like being on fire? I highly enjoy it. That being said, I am a fan of certain things like the musician Eric Church and Baseball Digest because they actually send useful notifications like when his next album is coming out or when a new article has been written.
The fifth type of facebook misusers are the “I don’t know you, but I’ll friend you anyways!” people. Don’t think that just because someone friends you that you must accept it. I most certainly don’t. Dear Omar from Brazil with whom I have no mutual friends, I will not accept your friend request. Facebook should be a connection between people you actually know. There’s no shame in having only 100 friends if that means you actually know and talk to them.
The last type of facebook misusers are older people. Yes, I said it. And I’m not the only one who thinks so. Many of the people who post too much information, seem to be on it too much, and have no shame on commenting on every picture are not people in my generation. I’m facebook friends with many of my friend’s parents (that’s another thing, once one of them acquires a facebook they will friend all of their children’s friends) and they typically write too much personal information on it. I’m going to go ahead and blame it on them not knowing the etiquette of facebook (which is it’s okay to creep on other people’s facebooks, but just don’t let them know about it). The stories we read about too much information were from people of an older generation. I know it’s easy to blame kids for all this crazy new technology, but really most of us are using it “properly”.
Now that I’ve complained about all the ways in which facebook is not used correctly, let me point out a few ways in which facebook should be used. Firstly, facebook is a great way to keep in contact with friends. In a previous class many of you stated that if you lost contact with friends over time there was probably a reason for it. Well, I use facebook, not to get in touch with old friends, but to keep in touch with currant ones. Sometimes when you don’t have time for a phone call, it’s nice to just drop a little post on their wall to say hi. Facebook can keep you updated on their lives through pictures. You can look at their dorm room, or of them at a football game they went to last weekend, or whatever else they might have posted. It’s also a good way of learning what’s going on by being fans of certain things, and sometimes status updates can be nice when done properly (ex. “Can’t wait to see my friends in a few weeks!”)
So, as your perusing these articles please don’t think that your friends, children, or whoever else you know that has a facebook, is going facebook crazy. Most people have the good sense to use facebook properly.