THINGS YOU SHOULD AVOID DOING IN FACEBOOK

by Earlie Doriman
No matter how busy your day, no matter how poorly you’re feeling, FACEBOOK, more often than not, is a part to one’s way of life – the FB generation as I call it.

Undoubtedly, FACEBOOK is the most popular social networking site today.  There are more than 500 million active users to date and this number keeps growing every single day. Mark Zuckerberg, the main founder of FB continues to get wealthy as his virtual lounge unsurprisingly attracted a massive fraction of the world’s living population.

Whilst it has become a very convenient form to communicate family, friends and colleagues, its additional features advance its reputation as a ‘friendly- room’ for its users. You can play, chat, watch and upload videos, share photos, and could actually discuss issues, without downplaying the business opportunities that some have been doing nowadays.

But is it too friendly to make one vulnerable to abuse? Or to make one obnoxious to others. Nevertheless, you would not think twice to be online and see who are there at the moment, what’s the hottest buzz, who replied and liked your status, who has added new pictures, who sent messages, who added request, who invited for games, and many other zany status modes. Or perhaps you just don’t care and what you are really up to is to find old enemies and start revive word war and create new ring of outbursts. So you think there are no limits to what we can do and how we should behave inside the virtual room. Think again. Many were arrested for online bullying and disrespect and some reprimanded for inappropriate video uploads, aside from awful reprove from other users.

To maintain the decent image of this virtual social lounge, consider the things that users should avoid in FACEBOOK.

1. Do not use coarse language.  You can express what you want but choose the right words to say it. Swearing or cursing is not acceptable even in an uncivilized society. Your words reflect what is within you and demonstrate the level of decorum you are made of.
2. Do not start or stir up a clash. Some users exploit Facebook to trigger war between individuals and start destroying someone’s reputation. Do not start creating trouble or you will end up helpless to fix it.
3. Do not malign others. It is very easy to destroy other people especially if the other person is not aware about what you have been telling your FB friends. Give others the respect they deserve and if you think they don’t deserve your high regard, it is more intelligible not to bother talking about them in Facebook. How would you feel if someone does it to you?
4. Avoid posting offensive photos. Leave some privacy to yourself. Facebook is not the right place to promote your indecent pictures to get attention. There is a huge difference between glamour and lewdness.

5. Never mind the grammar of other users. No one is interested about your English proficiency or your vocabulary. What is important in communication is mutual understanding between two people or group of individuals. It is not of your concern if the subject does not agree with the verb or vice versa for as long as the words are decent and agreeable to many. Facebook is not an English classroom, is it?

6. Do not grab profile or album pictures. Pictures might be made public in Facebook but the truth remains the same ‘THOSE ARE NOT YOUR PROPERTY ‘ and therefore you have no single right to grab them and use them somewhere else except with the approval from the owner.

7. Do not show off. Blowing your own trumpet is annoying to many. Sharing achievements is encouraging if done in the right way. There is a distinction between showing with arrogance and showing with humility. If you choose the former, you will only become a subject of mockery and charade. People know when to be impressed and how to get cheesed off.

8.Be careful adding  people in your friend's list. It is a virtue to be friendly,but make sure you don't entertain people whom you do not truly know.Whilst it is not the most anti-social behaviour, it does safeguard you from exploitation, harassment, and abuse. There are many
evil-hearted individuals hovering over the cyber world and just waiting to catch vulnerable victims.