I Dislike what you Like.

I am absolutely dismayed at the lack of Facebook etiquette displayed by some people. How is it that they do not realise that Facebook is public? It is not private, it is not a friend's club. What you post/comment is seen by everybody on your/their friends list. These are just some simple 'DO NOT's that I want to share with you.


DO NOT -

• Share news that is not yours to share - whether it be somebody's romance, relationship, breakup, marriage or pregnancy. You might know it, does not mean they are ready to share it with the whole of their Facebook world. It might be true, but it is not your choice to make. 

• Try not to comment on somebody's photo in a very disparaging way. You might call them lovingly as, say, 'popcorn' or 'hotdog' but I don't think they want the whole world to know that. Nicknames are for personal conversations. Nothing on Facebook other than messages are personal. And even those are not 'safe' - it is up to the discretion of the person you send it to.

• Post a very personal status update and then be embarrassed by the reactions/comments/criticism that people respond with. But do it by all means if you want to gloat, or seek all that attention.

• Post something that will make sense only to you. And think that nobody would be interested in it. And smirk/grin/wink when people want to know more. Or do it purposely so that people will want to know more. That is the height of narcissism. 

• Write something and then 'like' what you have written. Maybe once in a while this is pardonable, when it is indeed news worth being happy about. However, do it for everything. and that probably means you just jumped off the cliff. I pity you. I pity that you feel you have to lead the way to 'liking', that you like what you have written so much that you have to 'like' it, even if you have written something that you dislike. 

• Randomly hit 'like' whether or not something deserves it. How did you miss the fact that it is not appropriate to like everything. [you 'like' that I am disappointed with my grades? or that I fell down the stairs????] Grow some grey matter, seriously! If you want something to stand for 'I have been here, and seen this', then there are better ways. like a 'hi''oh' 'hello' 'howdy'. 'Like' is not an easy way out - it does not cover you being too lazy to type.

• Only always like something that somebody posts and never ever initiate/extend a conversation. That just makes you look like a silent creepy follower. It also shows that you are not personally interested in that person beyond 'liking' him/her. Then why be 'friends' in the first place? I am not a number in your friends list.

•  Tag people in random, meaningless pictures or apps. I, for one, absolutely hate being tagged in places where there isn't my face, nose or even a finger for that matter. I do not want to know if I am your top follower, I do not want to know your numerology, and I definitely do not want to be part of a high school prank.
  

•  Take snippets of a personal conversation or something said in confidence and post it on your Facebook profile. That is equivalent to a breach of trust whether or not  you intend it to be. And it just sucks to be the person who said it. Some random stranger is gossiping about your dark dark secret. How does that make you feel? I know you are talking about me, you know you are talking about me. Isn't that enough to be embarrassed?

• The meanest thing you could do is post compromising videos/photos. Just because you have a photo with my face in it does not mean you own it nor does it mean you can do whatever you want with it. 

• Send repeatedly friend requests or messages to people who might have once been in your class ten years ago. Be practical, just because the name sounds familiar, or it says you are from my school, I will not add you. I will not feel guilty about not adding you. I will not even venture to find out more about you. And if by chance I do remember who you are, I may not be interested in you anymore than I was in our social science teacher.

• If I ignored your request, did not respond to your message even after you have sent it twice, that just means I am not interested in you. Live with it.

We have all learnt [apparently blogger has not learnt that the word 'learnt' exists. Go goggle it blogger] to live with the fact that nothing is private anymore. But we tend to forget it every now and then. We tend to squash any remaining semblance of privacy with our own hands. Indeed, the world is a smaller place. But we still can chose how to live in it.

p.s - if you have didn't think twice before doing anything of the above, I am not intentionally mean to you. I just can't take it anymore that people need to be always told these simple things, that they take my privacy for granted; that they do not realize how much they are imposing/intruding into another person's life.