{"id":17122,"date":"2011-05-18T15:54:04","date_gmt":"2011-05-18T13:54:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onsoftware.en.softonic.com\/?p=17122"},"modified":"2025-07-02T02:00:54","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T09:00:54","slug":"10-things-not-to-do-on-facebook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/10-things-not-to-do-on-facebook\/","title":{"rendered":"10 things not to do on Facebook"},"content":{"rendered":"

Facebook<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s mission is to \u201cgive people the power to share and make the world more open and connected<\/em>.\u201d This all sounds very worthy and far out, but on the flipside the social network can also be a tool for causing a nuisance and generally upsetting the cosmic order of things.<\/p>\n

There are plenty of ways to become a menace on Facebook if you\u2019re that way inclined. Here\u2019s a guide to what to avoid doing<\/strong> on the network (or, alternatively, to do them if you\u2019re feeling bored and destructive).<\/p>\n

1. Quit with the tags!<\/h2>\n

Facebook allows you to tag (label) people who appear in your photos, regardless of whether they want to be identified in it or not. But it\u2019s not recommended to tag your friends at random<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"Don't<\/a><\/p>\n

The person who uploaded this picture to Facebook has tagged his friends as characters from the Mr Men books. This is a big no-no and is in effect spamming people\u2019s message boards with a silly picture that they probably don\u2019t want to be associated with.<\/p>\n

Worse still are those programs that tag your friends as random objects, such as Friends Tagger. If someone tagged me in one of these I would immediately sever all ties with them.<\/p>\n

2. Can you keep a secret?<\/h2>\n

\"Bad<\/p>\n

The Facebook wall is a fun way to keep up with your friends, but it\u2019s easy to forget that it\u2019s not confidential<\/strong>. Common sense states that you should send a private message for anything with confidential information, phone numbers, passwords or gossip.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

3. Farmers of the World unite!<\/h2>\n

Facebook is full of gangsters, pirates, gardeners, ninjas, waiters, bakers and other less noble professions that have nothing to do with real work. Anyone who has been asked to help provide straw for a Farmville barn knows exactly what I\u2019m talking about.<\/p>\n

\"Annoying<\/p>\n

If you really value your Facebook friends then don\u2019t pester them for some feed for your chickens or shotgun ammo to take down a Mafia boss. This best way to stop these ghastly messages polluting the timelines of others is to not start playing these ridiculous games in the first place. Go buy an Xbox instead.<\/p>\n

4. Coming to my party? It\u2019s at the North Pole<\/h2>\n

We\u2019re very happy you\u2019ve decided to celebrate your dog\u2019s seventh birthday and yes we\u2019d love to attend the pool party you\u2019re throwing in his honor. Too bad you live in Ecuador and the rest of your friends are living in New York and New Jersey.<\/p>\n

Remember to be selective<\/strong> when inviting people to an event rather than all of your Facebook friends. Just send the call to those you know might be able to attend. This way also, you won\u2019t get your old teachers, former bosses and ex girlfriends showing up.<\/p>\n

5. It\u2019s called Facebook. So show your face<\/h2>\n

Use a real photo as your profile picture<\/strong>. People would much rather talk to a human being than a smiling dinosaur, a comic book superhero or a sunset over Mount Fuji.<\/p>\n

\"Fake<\/a><\/p>\n

The same applies to names: nicknames, anagrams and silly made-up pseudonyms aren\u2019t funny and you\u2019ll just look like an idiot. Using your real name also has the benefit of helping people find you more easily when searching through their friends.<\/p>\n

6. Don\u2019t tell us everything<\/h2>\n

So, you think your life is quite interesting? Perhaps it is, but we don\u2019t need to know everything you\u2019re doing<\/strong> all the time like you\u2019re some kind of internet version of the Truman Show or Ed TV.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just frequency of status updates that you need to be careful with, but also the subject matter. Phrases to be avoided include:<\/p>\n

\u201cGran, I miss you so much but I know you\u2019re in heaven smiling down on me\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMan, I hate Mondays\u201d (or the equally pointless \u201cFinally, it\u2019s Friday!!!!\u201d)<\/p>\n

\u201cLove my wife\/husband sooooo much. Kisses and snuggles xxxxxx <3 oo\u201d<\/p>\n

Anything about any of your bodily functions<\/p>\n

\u201cMy baby just\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

7. Don\u2019t look Mom<\/h2>\n

What is Facebook without embarrassing videos and photos of people getting wasted or pulling outlandish pranks? These are often great fun to look through, but just make sure you\u2019re not in any of them, and leave it to others to ruin their reputations.<\/p>\n

Similarly you should think twice before tagging that picture of your co-worker at the office party dancing on a table with his shirt off and a mop on his head. Better to send a message to him first, asking if Mr Mop would like his antics paraded on Facebook for the bosses to see.<\/p>\n

8. Do you really like it?<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s very tempting just to hit that \u2018Like\u2019 button every time you see it on Facebook (or elsewhere on the internet). But you should actually think very carefully before liking or becoming a fan of something, especially if the group is called \u201cI hate\u2026\u201d or contains excessive generalizations.<\/p>\n

\"I<\/a><\/p>\n

Imagine if you liked a page called \u201cI hate meat\u201d then some weeks later you got a job interview at McDonalds, for example.<\/p>\n

9. This is awkward<\/h2>\n

Facebook Chat<\/strong> can be something of a pain and if you leave it switched on all the time you\u2019re inviting all manner of awkward situations. For instance, a long lost pal may start trying to catch up with you while you\u2019re watching the ball game on TV, an old girlfriend may begin opening old wounds while you\u2019re sat in the office, or your Mom could come on and tell you to come home and tidy your room if you\u2019re out in the park with Facebook on your phone. For this reason you should probably disable Facebook chat<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

10. Have we met?<\/h2>\n

Last but not least, is one of the most unnerving things on Facebook \u2013 friend requests from people you have no clue who they are. Perhaps it\u2019s someone you met while on holiday, perhaps it\u2019s a spammer, perhaps it\u2019s someone you know well but who has changed their name and profile picture. Who knows?<\/p>\n

\"Be<\/a><\/p>\n

The best way to avoid putting others in the awkward position of not knowing whether to accept the request or not is to be clear about who you are. Use your real name and add a message reminding the person who you are if you think they won\u2019t be certain.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your biggest Facebook pet hate? Are you guilty of any of the no-no\u2019s we\u2019ve mentioned here? We\u2019d love to know\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

[via OnSoftware ES<\/a>\/Onsoftware IT<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Facebook\u2019s mission is to \u201cgive people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.\u201d This all sounds very worthy and far out, but on the flipside the social network can also be a tool for causing a nuisance and generally upsetting the cosmic order of things. There are plenty of ways … Continue reading “10 things not to do on Facebook”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2006,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wpcf-pageviews":0},"categories":[],"tags":[2353],"usertag":[],"vertical":[],"content-category":[],"class_list":["post-17122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-app-subdomain-redirectionfacebook"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2006"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17122"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":334275,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17122\/revisions\/334275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17122"},{"taxonomy":"usertag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/usertag?post=17122"},{"taxonomy":"vertical","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vertical?post=17122"},{"taxonomy":"content-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-category?post=17122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}