Accept timeline. Don't be such a scardy pants. This is your life. Own it.
Of ALL your hundreds of friends on Facebook, only 5 will pick you up at the airport or help you move. This is VERY important to understand.
That's why you need thick skin if you post something you care about and no one 'likes' it.
Of course, the converse goes is true when you post a picture of your Converse and you get a TON of likes/comments.
Don't post more than 5 times a day. It looks bad. Seriously. Get a life. Or get a blog.
But post something at least once a week. Otherwise it looks like you have no life.
You can create your own lists so you can organize and categorize your 'friends'. This allows you to read news only from these friends and post only to these friends. No one can see these lists but you.
Your friends see your updates. Sure, some algorithms are better than others, but they see them - most of them anyway. They don't always know what to say, or are comfortable liking ALL your stuff, but they see your updates.
That said, sometimes they don't. Maybe they're too busy or just not into FB. That's ok. Message them, or pick up the phone.
Post what interests you on your timeline - short of porn and hyper-controversial subjects. But keep it varied, only because otherwise you look like that woman who believes in UFOs and lives with a dozen cats.
Understand that who you are in real life is often who you are on FB. If you're a loudmouth know-it-all, a political blowhard, or an annoying 'look at me' numbskull - that's who you'll be on FB. If you're a decent, caring, creative, normal person - you should be fine.
But make a note of how that works.
Try to say a little something about the video, music, article, etc. Please. Don't be lazy. Or mysterious. That sh*t is annoying.
Stay away from politics and religion - within reason. Seriously. You look like a lunatic. This is what Twitter is for.
Or again, get a blog.
If you have friends who feel it's necessary to tell all the people all the stuff all the time, you can unsubscribe or unfriend them. Or you can simply choose to see only important updates. With the latter, FB will cull their posts down considerably.
Sports. The timeline on FB moves much slower than on Twitter. So when you cheer your team on FB, you look like a lunatic. Also, hashtags don't work on FB - unless you're using it as punctuation. #SeeWhatIDidThere
Don't share what you don't want to share. It's that simple. If you don't want people to know you're a grand dragon, don't post that video of you giving the keynote at the Klan rally...
Don't sh*t in the stream. It looks lazy. And crazy. Pinterest goes to Pinterest. Instagram to Instagram. Linkedin to Linkedin. Twitter to Twitter*. Etc.
Because otherwise it looks like all your posts are coming from the Department of the Redundancy Department.
If you don't want people to know you're reading crap stories about Kim Kardashian and Lindsey Lohan, go to your apps in your privacy settings and set them to Only Me.
Go ahead and like something your friend says. It shows you saw it and liked what they said. It's like a warm fuzzy. But if you don't, then don't. If you want to comment accordingly, go ahead, but understand it's hard to see sarcasm.
Use emoticons. It helps people undertand you're being sarcastic and not just an a**hole.
;-)
Try not to swear. Think of FB as a community center. There are people you know well, not so well, and some you've just met. And there are kids hanging around. If you need to tell the state of Arizona to go f*ck themselves - Twitter.
No one cares if you have a cold or your shoulder hurts. Tell your significant other, or better yet your doctor.
Also no one cares if you're hungry, or if you're bored. Or sad. C'mon, are you 5?
If you say you're sad or bored, you're fishing. Two words. Grow. Up.
You are sad and bored? Seriously? C'mon! It's the internet! Hello! It has EVERYTHING from self help blogs to videos of cats playing piano. Bored? Sad? Pullllease....
But if you break a bone, or run anything more than a 5K - we'll like that. We want to be supportive.
Obviously, no one likes it if you break a bone, but hopefully you've included an amusing anecdote. Or a gruesome picture.
When you 'like' brands, it means you get their stuff in your newsfeed. This means the internet now comes to you. That's actually pretty cool.
But you can choose to unlike a brand if gets to be too much.
Also, there are interest lists which means you can manage what you want to see without having to like anything - if that's more your thing.
The profile picture of you that's actually your kid, or your dog, or a celebrity you want to be - it's time to let it go. The web is maturing. So should you.
Of course, it's just FB - which is social and fun. Maybe on Linkedin use a grown up picture.
Use your cover photo to show your amusing, creative, topical, and clever side.
Why use FB at all? Email sucks - 5 emails out of 100 are useful/important, and when's the last time you used your phone as a phone?
FB gives you/your friends a chance to peek in and see what's going on each other's lives. That's ok. That's good.
FB will never replace a wave or a head nod. It will never replace a handshake and a smile. It will never replace a hug and kiss. But it will do in the interim. It will do.
* The exception is Twitter, but only if the tweet is particularly brilliant/poignant. For example, when Michael Vick got a 100M contract after being in jail for dogfighting, $100,000,000... That's horse fighting money can be shared on FB. But a lame observation like, A hair band combined with a scrunchy is not that different than a belt combined with suspenders should not.
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