Online Social Networking Etiquette

The internet is a big place, full of diverse people from all different backgrounds and lifestyles. Unfortunately, the internet seems to be the the place of choice to air one's dirty laundry or to show pictures of themselves they wouldn't have the nerve to submit to adult magazines. Usually, the platform for doing such is in the form of an online social networking website.

Online social networking is all the rage right now. It seems like everyone has a page, from teenagers to grandmothers, but as with any form of socializing, there is etiquette that should be followed.

Restrict your nude photos to an adult folder, or block your page where only people you allow as friends can view you in all of your naked glory. Rest assured, not everyone shares your enthusiasm of your genitalia. When browsing profiles, we don't all need or want to see your fresh Brazilian bikini wax proudly displayed as your default user picture. Find a nice face shot to put up as the default, and I'm sure visitors will have no trouble finding your nudes in the adult content folder. If they made it far enough to view your page, they can certainly read well enough to click the correct link to view your private parts.

You don't have to add every user on the site as your friend. The list of friends should be people you actually want to get to know. Most people are not offended by a declined request, and would probably rather be on a friends list where they will actually become a friend, rather than just another member amongst 10,000 lost in your friend list abyss.

Limit how many bulletins you post in a 24-hour period. You risk people deleting you from their friends list if you are posting every joke email sent to you in the last six months, within a one day span. Pace yourself, and take into consideration if you received one joke email from five different people, then chances are the people that receive your bulletins have gotten it, too. Joke emails are sent in waves, and any that you received today, 10 million other people did too. A better alternative is simply forwarding the jokes to people on your friends list via email.

As with joke emails, please be weary of posting chain bulletins that have alleged consequences if they are not reposted. If there really were consequences to not reposting them, I would be dead or a virgin. Better yet, I'd be a dead virgin. Threatening me with not having sex for 7 years is pointless. I am married and my husband's idea of sex is hitting mute on the television in the bedroom and being done by the end of the commercials. I purposely don't repost those, and pray the curse is real.

Before posting your sexual interest on someone's comments section, or to their inbox, take the time to read the profile. If someone is looking for a love connection, or sexual tryst, there might be some indication of that on the profile. Never assume the romantic status of a member, and keep in mind not everyone is eagerly awaiting offers for casual sex.

Make an attempt to leave each person on your friends list a comment at least once a week. It doesn't have to be a long winded essay on what it means to be a friend, however saying hello once in a while with a simple one sentence "have a nice day" or a comment tag is nice. If you have so many friends it would take all week to acknowledge all of them, chances are you might need to thin out the crowd.

Check your friends list for birthdays. There is nothing worse than a friend not wishing you a happy birthday. Once again, a speech about what a wonderful friend he or she is coupled with a "happy birthday" comment tag is not required. Simply placing the two words "happy" and "birthday" in the comment field will do nicely.

Try to be fair and tolerant with friends that seem to not come online as much as others. Sending huffy messages to their inboxes or bulletin boards informing them they have a certain number of days to leave you a comment or be deleted off your list is both petty and distasteful. It's always best to assume those friends have work, families, and life issues more pressing than their social networking page.

If you have a beef with another user of the site, simply block the person you have the problem with, rather than heading up a witch hunt with bulletins and inbox messages, defaming the character of your nemesis. Problem people tend to fade away when they find out you aren't bothered by their existence. Putting the source of your anger in a state of ignore will allow them to move on to someone else, and leave you alone.

Whether you're on the internet, or out in the real world, common sense will help you remember your manners. Keep in mind how you would like to be treated and the rest takes care of itself.