Facebook is like a prom evening where everybody tries their best to elicit most attention. As you log in to your Facebook profile every day, scores of status updates, ranging from breathtaking to bizarre, vie for your attention. Depending on your personal taste, you go through some updates while ignoring the rest. Ever thought why you prefer interacting with some updates over others?
According to social psychologists, Facebook has sprung open doors for people to express themselves in an unbridled fashion, where many strive hard for validation from their fellow Facebook users. In pursuit of this recognition, they end up building themselves bad impression, especially when they fail to use their editorial discretions and goes beyond the limit of accepted decency. This, often, can prove to be dangerous to a user’s prospect as they allow people to make a wrong judgement about them. There are reports of job seekers being rejected in the interview over their Facebook wall content. In fact, many recruiters have admitted to have rejected job seekers due to their lack of discretions as demonstrated across their online presence including Facebook.
Whether for professional or personal reasons, it’s important to maintain one’s online reputation across social networks, and taking care of your Facebook status updates goes a long way in doing so. Luckily, it’s really not that hard to build a good online reputation on Facebook only if you exercise a little bit of restraint over your urge to post “anything” that tempts you on the spur of the moment.
Being an Internet marketing and social media professional myself, I’ve come across many behavioural patterns that make me cringe and question users’ editorial discretions on Facebook.
I’d suggest the following Facebook status tips in order to nurture a healthy online image and maintain discretion on Facebook:
Avoid Posting Highly Personal Updates
Blame it on the propensity to seek immediate attention from others; many Facebook users tend to reveal highly personal info on their Facebook updates. It doesn’t help your online reputation if you, for example, declare you breaking up with your girlfriend. Rather, it might invite unwanted attention and questions from others that would be rather mortifying for you to address.
Comment Responsibly
Watch your words for they reveal your thoughts. How you conduct yourself on Facebook indicates quite much about your personality in real life. Avoid the urge to jump in and leave a comment unless you have something constructive to say. Don’t indulge in mindless commenting or get into a verbal duel with your fellow commentators. Remember, the world is watching you and forming an immediate opinion about your personality while you’re busy abusing people or cracking jokes at other’s expanse.
Don’t Complain About Things
As with real life, people also tend to have a negative perception towards others that complain about things most of the times on Facebook. While an occasional post about something you’re not happy with can enlighten your Facebook friends, frequently negative posts can turn them off big time. Nobody likes a killjoy or constantly whining person. In such a case, you’d be better off writing a note than posting an update on your thoughts.
Be Careful of What You Like/Share
Often your Facebook likes and shares reveal a lot about your personal characteristics. According to a study of online privacy, Facebook users are unwittingly revealing intimate secrets – including their sexual orientation, drug use and political beliefs – using only public “like” updates. The research into 58,000 Facebook users in the US found that sensitive personal characteristics about people can be accurately inferred from information in the public domain.
Researchers were able to accurately infer a Facebook user’s race, IQ, sexuality, substance use, personality or political views using only a record of the subjects and items they had “liked” on Facebook – even if users had chosen not to reveal that information. Sharing updates and pages that have low value proposition frequently could give a negative signal to some of your Facebook friends. Choose to like Facebook Pages carefully and share their updates with a great deal of prudence in order to protect your social reputation.
Don’t Covet Likes/Comments
According to many studies, likes and comments tend to boost the ego of Facebook users to a significant extent. This trend has affected the users so much that many often feel depressed when their updates don’t get the desired traction they expected. If you want to maintain your sanity on Facebook, don’t allow “likes” or “comments” to affect you. Lower your expectation from your Facebook friends and don’t take their ignorance or indifference to your updates in a negative manner. Remember: it’s your status. Your status should be dictated by your own thoughts and actions. Obviously, if you’re posting it, you’re probably looking for feedback. If you get some, that’s good for you. But if you don’t, just accept it and move on. Indifference should not deter you from being who you are.
Maintain Some Class
If you’re craving for positive attention from your Facebook friends, you should know how to earn it. Don’t post ludicrous and outlandish updates to garner attention. If you act like a moron, they will treat you like a moron. Maintain some class and safeguard your online reputation.
Johnnie Jazz says
I love your post on Facebook. I am pleased to see someone giving no-nonsense advice about all the mistakes people make, when joining Facebook. A brutually honest post, well written!