Social Media Etiquette

Do you have one of those annoying friends on Facebook that sends you every invitation, request and game possible? You know whom I'm talking about. The one who's status is always negative, always complaining about something. Don't you wish you could tell then to knock it off? Well now you can, by sharing this article with them. When interacting with others online, ask yourself, "would I do this in real life? How would I interact with this person face to face?" This usually gives a reality check as to how your behavior online should mimick your behavior off line. Here are my top 6 rules of etiquette for social media.

1. Keep your status updates neutral or positive. No one wants to hear about your horrible day. My favorite quote is, "When you are complaining, you become a living, breathing 'crap magnet.'" (Unknown) If you had that horrible of a day, call your best friend to vent, don't put it out there for all of your friends and colleagues to see. It's better to be positive!

2. Only send invitations that are relevant. Nothing is more annoying when people send invitations for applications that you don't have interest in. Let's face it. Everyone is busy. No one wants to waste time declining apps all day long. The rule of thumb is if the recipient won't laugh at it or love playing it, don't send it. If you're on the receiving end, you can send them a polite message that while you appreciate being included, you don't have time to play games online. If they don't get the hint, you can go to your security settings and block certain apps, or block certain people from sending you apps.

3. The one time rule. If you invite someone to become a fan, a supporter or to an event and they decline, do not send it again. If they didn't join the first time, there is probably good reasoning for their decision. Leave the ball in their court to join or promote; otherwise you're just going to annoy them.

4. Don't post anything you wouldn't want your grandmother to see. That also goes for your parents, your boss, clients, co-workers, etc. Despite security settings improving over the years on facebook, People are becoming more tech savvy and can bypass some of these settings. Also remember that people may allow others to log into their account to see "hidden" things.

5. Don't post pictures or tag your friends in unflattering pics. Keeping in line with rule number 4, put yourself in your friends' shoes. If you were her, would you want that picture posted? In addition, you don't know who they are friends with, who their friends know in real life and don't know what their security settings are. Play it safe, and only post appropriate pictures. Also, if a friend requests a picture to be taken down, kindly oblige no matter how fabulous you look.

6. Don't friend request people you don't know. It's always a good idea to play it safe online. Don't friend request or accept friend requests from people you don't really know in real life. Unfortunately, everyone needs to play it safe now a days and you don't want to be labeled a creeper. If you wouldn't share details of your life with a stranger, why would you friend request someone you don't really know? If someone that "kind of" knows you, keeps requesting friendship but you don't want to hurt their feelings by denying it, you can easily accept them but put them on a limited list. This allows you to control what they see on your page, and increases your safety.

Following these simple rules can help you and everyone around you have a more pleasant and positive experience on sites such as Facebook and Myspace.