Social Networking Etiquette  

I joined Myspace several years ago and found it a great way to communicate with friends and family. I was usually on the sidelines observing the Myspace drama that enveloped friends and every so often, likely rarely, found myself caught up in the drama with friends over top 8, 16, or 24 friends placement, etc. There was other drama, but it usually revolved over friends placement. I thought it was so silly that friends would fight, friendships end, and time wasted over these silly fights. But still, it was pretty lame when you had thoughtfully placed a friend at a certain position expecting reciprocation and finding none.

Then Facebook came along. I joined and knew very few people. I had about 42 friends for a few years until more and more people starting joining, now I am at 274 and feeling pretty good about it! I've met a lot of people through Facebook that I would have never known without it!

I've started enjoying Facebook more and more as each year passes. A cleaner look than Myspace, no spam, fun features and such made it a great tool to meet new friends, become closer with existing friends, and all sorts of goodies that Facebook offers. I log onto Myspace once or twice a day to see if I have any new comments or mail, but I am always logged onto Facebook if my laptop is on, it is that integral to my life!

And yet, just as the drama with Myspace came to be, so has the drama of Facebook. A friend request goes unanswered, a friend request is answered and then you are deleted as a friend, etc.

With the advent of social networking, a social networking etiquette has been created. The etiquette is continually evolving with new features being added to websites all of the time. A great feature on Facebook is the "ignore" feature.

For instance, I have some Facebook friends who post things all of the time. It tends to clog up my news feed. So, some of them have been placed on ignore. This means I don't get their updates in my news feed, but we are still friends. Another reason why this feature is great is when I am friends with someone who has radically different political beliefs than my own. I enjoy hearing opposing views, but not obnoxious uninformed ones, so some friends have been placed on ignore to keep my sanity level in check! I feel that a lot of people aren't aware of this feature and can be too quick to delete someone as a friend. This is unfortunate because feelings are hurt and it is really just so unnecessary to delete someone that could be placed on ignore.

We live in an age with amazing technology that has opened doors we never dreamed about 5, 10, or 50 years ago. With the blessings of technology comes the responsibility to remember etiquette. This is something for us all to remember, myself included.