Sunday, July 3, 2011

5 Worst Social Media Habits


Making Social Media a Public Journal
Every now and again you get in that funk where someone has done something that you’ve temporarily deemed unforgivable, and now you need to vent. But you decide to do so in a way that everyone can see, through a status or tweet, and somehow you think you’re being ambiguous. Well, you’re not. Or worse, you’re really indirect with your drama and instead, choose to write an essay in the form of a status with your issues, clogging up people’s news feeds or wasting about seven tweets, a la Lil Kim style. As an adult, if you have an issue, take it to the person directly or take a timeout. Cause we don’t need to read all that. And to be clear, if it’s on social media, then yes, you want the world to know about it!

Displaying Your Ratchet Photos
Silly profile pictures and random photo albums are one thing, but photos of teenagers smoking blunts in their parents homes, folks wearing next to nothing and a camera phone pic of you in the bathroom straight out the shower is such a mess. I think many people share a bit too much with their Twit Pics and Facebook photo posts, especially when the things posted have to be seen by the world through everyone else’s non-selective Facebook news feed. Keep those candids in your private collection please!

 Making Any and Everyone Your “Friend”
When you start out on social media like Facebook, you pretty much ask to be anybody and everybody’s friend just to get your name out there. But I’d say once you have over 100 homies, it’s time to start being selective. I’ve acquired too many Facebook friends that haven’t seen a dictionary and spell in the most broken English ever. And lets not forget the “friends” who go on profane-laden tirades even when they’re in a good mood. On a quiet Sunday, these kinds of status presentations can be cringe-worthy and after a couple of times it’s just not a good look. Granted, you can’t remove family members (that’s just not nice), but random acquaintances and strangers? Delete. But to avoid all that, be choosy with your friend choices. A quick wall check will tell you a lot a person’s social media behaviors.

 Being Thirsty
The access you get to your favorite celebrities through Twitter is exciting, but a little too exciting at times. Answer a rhetorical question they pose and if you’re one of the lucky few, you just might get a response that’ll make your day. Or better yet, your week. But I’ve seen too many folk go out of their way to get a celeb’s attention, responding to any and everything they say, even begging for the individual to follow them back. Be clear: you don’t really know them, and most likely, they don’t know you at all. Take what you can get and keep it moving, dear.

Having Relaxed Privacy Settings
Sure, social media is all about meeting new people and reconnecting with old homies, but there’s something creepy about having your profile out for random creepers to be able to scope and view your pictures through. I learned this randomly one day when I got a message from a complete stranger, and it wasn’t just the usual “hi, my name is.” Instead, this guy was saying he looked through my pictures and thought I was pretty. Uh…thanks, but no thanks. I restricted access to my profile seconds later. You’d be surprised how much info people can get from your profiles and tweets (like when you tell people where you are at a specific moment–be careful with that), and even if they mean no harm, it’s just weird. Protect yourself and put out the bare minimum, ladies.

No comments: