Facebook junkies are guilty of at least one of these twenty mistakes. Social media has turned into more of an addiction that we humans weren’t really prepared for. You may think you don’t have a problem, but when you check your screen time to realize how much of your life has been wasted by scrolling on these platforms, you will think again. Many have uncontrollable social media habits, including forgetting Facebook isn’t reality, nor is it meant to be a private journal. Let’s be real; it’s time to take a step back from the nonsense and turn our attention back to the real world. Here are 20 common Facebook mistakes.
01) Babies
Facebook can appear as the unofficial baby competition feed. Parents, especially first-time parents, believe their baby is the cutest alive. Yes, we’re sure your child is adorable. However, Facebook can look scary when their newsfeed is flooded with children. It’s almost as though the child’s mother or father is competing for the number of likes they will receive. When you can’t resist, please remember: no one wants to read their poop schedule or see every single facial expression a human can make in life in one day. Try to space out the posts a bit more or enjoy spending real time with your child.
Pay attention to the safety controls as well. Remember, Facebook is always watching.
- Make sure your Facebook account is set to private and accept your real friends, not strangers.
- Keep the details about yourself and your children to a bare minimum. You never know who can hack into your account.
- Please discuss with your friends on your privacy beliefs so they can refrain from sharing your images.
- Make sure auto-detection, metadata is turned off when posting the images. This will make it more difficult for anyone to track the child’s location.
- Never share nude or semi-nude photos of your children. There are one too many sick people in the world.
02) Selfies
There have been studies surrounding “selfies,” where it appears someone is obsessed with it due to low-self esteem, seeking confidence, narcissism, depression, etc. We get it, sometimes it’s great to check in every once in a while, but the excessiveness can look disturbing. Maybe it’s time to gain confidence from within instead of seeking it? You may become a better person as a result of it. You can be a better listener, learn to love yourself a little more, and realize there are more people in the world than just yourself; you will have more self-confidence without it and an overall better attitude. Imagine paying attention to the real world than just seeing your face in a tiny box?
03) Politics
It’s 2004, and Mark Zuckerberg’s vision of Facebook came to life. The social media platform was first intended to reconnect old classmates and people in your life. As the years went by, this happy internet social gathering turned into a toxic warzone where people would use it to discuss political views. There’s that old phrase, don’t talk about politics and religion at the dinner table. Well, that should be for social media as well. What happens is, you risk losing friends, family members, and clients. It’s merely a waste of time and energy and nearly impossible to change someone’s strong views. Facebook isn’t meant for politics; why don’t you join a group, contribute to a news site or blog, Reddit column, or a specific platform asking for x political topic instead.
04) Your schedule
Everyone has errands to run. They would typically write down a list of things to do for the day. We don’t need to see this checklist on Facebook. It’s OK; your friends will survive, not knowing that you got gas for your car or your clothes smelling like lavender.
05) Strong Opinionated Views
Similar to politics, this is another way to lose family, friends, and clients.
06) Drunk posts
It all started with the drunk phone calls then moved to drunk texts, and now it’s the tipsy Facebook posts. You know you’ll regret what you said the next day.
07) Food porn
Everything should be shared in moderation. With that being said, no one needs to see your every meal. Why don’t you sit back and enjoy your dish along with your present company instead?
08) Relationship on overdrive
Typically when someone brags about how amazing their significant other is, chances are, the more someone publicly shares about their perfect relationship, the sooner those two love birds will come to an abrupt end. It’s sad but true, and many are guilty about doing this at least once in their life. Remember, romance is not about how much you post about it on Facebook. Go out there and show your significant other how great he or she is in person.
09) Woe is me
At times, the world may seem to be against everyone. There’s no reason to share negativity to Facebook land; it will only make things worse. Instead of sharing your pain, try going to the gym, listen to music, write a journal, get a hobby, seek counseling, and perhaps list five things you are grateful for. In time the world will appear much brighter and on your side.
10) Anger Management
Angry posts will make you appear scary, crazy, and you will probably lose a few friends. Take a deep breath and know that venting on Facebook never does any good whatever frustration you have.
11) The Ego
The egotistical posts are possibly the most irritating and depressing. It’s one thing to share your work and another to make excessive testimonials about how wonderful you are.
12) Constantly checking in
While this feature is fun, learn how to be smart about using it. You don’t need to tell the world where you are at all times. You might as well check in to announce you are taking a dump.
13) Excessive photo uploads
You don’t need to post 1000 photos of your everyday adventures. There was a time before the digital age where you were allotted 27 images per film roll. We get it, digital is endless but learn to be selective and only share the best.
14) Abusing the “live” feature
First, selfies and now live video feeds of yourself. How much of you can one person take per day? The trend of this list is to learn how to be selective.
15) Journal entries
Facebook is not a journal. We don’t need to see your every thought.
16) Always updating your profile image
Give it a few weeks before changing it. Learn to be healthy and accept you for who you are instead of looking for ways to find more reassurance or attention.
17) Spam and self-advertisement
Facebook is a beautiful tool for self-promotion. However, be smart about it. The more you post the same ad, the less likely people would want to “like” or “follow.”
18) Forward Chains
These should NOT exist.
19) The complainer
We get it; you win, your problems are the worst.
20) Spoiler Alert
Not everyone watches TV at the same time. Learn to wait before spoiling the series, movie, award show, etc.. for everyone.