Facebook Etiquette 101

By Writer Keith

If you haven’t heard yet, Morning Express with Robin Meade has a new Facebook page. And I can tell you one thing: Writer Keith likes this. It’s a great way for us, the entire show team, to hear from you as the morning goes on. Plus, it gives you a way to hear what is going on in the world of news, sports, and entertainment. It’s a way for you to talk with other viewers and many mornings your comments could make it on TV. You can even see if Robin is coming to your city to sign her new book (which actually comes out on my birthday, September 10th. Coincidence? I think so.)

Please keep your status updates to things like 'Making spaghetti for the kids.'

Now I am sure many of you have already signed up for Facebook. It’s a great way to catch up with old friends you may not have seen in years. I’ve found all sorts of people I had forgotten about from high school and from middle school (more on that in a bit). If you are still on the fence and are reading this blog, why not join? It don’t cost nothing. So if you are new to the site or an old pro that needs some reminders, I wanted to go over some stuff I’ve noticed about what people post on their “wall” and other benefits of the site. Some good, some not so good.

1) Please do not post status updates that are WAYYYYY too personal

Sure, posting stuff on the site can be fun. “Alyssa is making pizza,” “O’B is driving to New Hampshire,” “Max is cruising the freshman dorms.” But sometimes, people seem to air a lot of dirty laundry on there. Do I really need to know about all of the problems you are having with your significant other? “John says he knows why divorce is so expensive ... it’s worth every penny.” “Mary thinks her boyfriend better sleep with one eye open. I know about your affair and I know where the crazy glue is.” I have had to block some people off of my list because of them venting about divorce, break-ups, infidelity, everything. Folks, let’s just keep it to making spaghetti. And please don't write about how drunk you are. Your employer, or future employer, will see it.

2) Old pictures: It’s a two-way street

Many of us have had the moment: Looking at old pictures and cringing because of the crazy hairstyles and fashion. Well now they can be posted for the entire world to see on people’s Facebook photo album. At first I thought it was funny. I saw some old pics of classmates from St. John’s elementary and middle school. The amount of big hair and claw hairstyles (that big poof that teenage girls used to do with their bangs) made me laugh out loud. But then a picture from my junior prom hit the web. Now the fashion wasn’t too bad (except that I weighed about 110 pounds and had the same 7 ½ hat size), but I thought I had all pictures of me destroyed from that dance. I had fun, but my prom date was a disaster. To put it in perspective, the prom was the same night as the OJ Bronco chase. OJ had a better night.

3) Do you really need to do that many polls or invite me to a game?

Many people like to do these polls or top 5 lists. Who are your favorite bands, do you agree with such and such policy. These are fun…every once in a while. There are some people who do 10 of these a day, clogging up your wall. Do you need to spend that amount of time every day letting people know that you would choose King Kong Bundy and Courtney Love as your body guard? And please: No more invites for fantasy games. If I want to join something I will. Please don’t ask me to hide a body from your Mafia War fantasy world.

4) Tips from other people and keeping up with things back home

Facebook has been a great help for me with getting tips for my new baby. It seems about 800 people on my friends list have had a kid within the past 3 months. In fact, three of the women from my high school class and two guys from college had a baby the same month as mine. So we all get to watch our kids grow at the same rate and give advice and empathize with each other.

It can also help out with tough times back home. Things you may have never heard about, you’ll hear about. A classmate of mine from high school recently passed away. I won’t go into the details, but it is always tough to lose someone you know at such a young age. Thanks to the website, I was able to keep up with the details and send thoughts and prayers to those who were closer to my classmate than I was. I am not sure if it helped, but I know it didn’t hurt.

Well that’s it. What are some of things you like/dislike about Facebook. You can post your comments on the blog or on our fancy new show Facebook group.