What Constitutes Too Much Information on Social Networking Sites?

Social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace are a wonderful way to reconnect with friends and family. You control who sees your information and comments and who can add you to their online friends list. In recent months, there has been much controversy surrounding how much information is shared, however. No, we don't mean account information, we mean personal information entered via status updates. Many have taken to airing out differences on Facebook and Myspace walls for everyone to see, causing many to unfriend individuals. Although no one knows for sure the reason behind this problem, one thing is for certain, its gone too far. Log into your social networking site and you are likely to see one of your friends arguing and cursing at someone on their friends list over some disagreement.

Case in point; I had an old high school aquaintance on my Facebook page who was going through a nasty divorce. Every day, I would log in to see him putting her down and her putting him down. The comments soon went to passing obscenities and threats. After a week of this, I finally unfriended them both. It was horrible and a trashy thing to do. Personal arguments are just that, personal. While some individuals may wish to let others into their personal lives, those individuals may not want to be in the midst of the drama and nastiness. I have seen this several times where people would get into petty fights and air out family or personal business, all the while threatening each other with bodily harm and excessive name calling. First, as humans we have ability to act mature and respectable. The issue is, not everyone exercises that right, making themselves look more like animals who are not trained properly.

Many people I have spoken with who have noticed this problem have agree that this behavior is not only unacceptable but creates a negative reputation for those involved. This could also lead to legal issue should someone decide to forward these statuses to the authorities, claiming terroristic threats. Another problem people find bringing them down is the incessant barrage of religious links and forwards. I, as many I know, understand that love for personal religion is important yet when it makes up 95% of your social networking status wall, it gets a bit much. Share sparingly, not constantly. I find many of my own friends post religious items on my personal Facebook wall in attempt to convert my own religious beliefs yet when I post mine, they complain and tell me I'm wrong and should confess now. This has also caused me to remove some very well meaning friends because of the unrest and argument it forces.

Social networking comes with certain etiquette guidelines that I believe we can all learn from and benefit from. First and foremost, keep your personal arguments to yourself. I have been guilty of venting on my social networking pages, as we all have. Venting is one thing but inciting an all out war is another. Avoid name calling, cursing and calling out people by name to cut down on the drama for you and your friends. Secondly, try limiting the amount of religious or controversial links and posts made. While its important that you share your beliefs with friends and family, they would also like to hear about your day or how your feeling as compared to how much you love Jesus or how many links you can post as to why your religious views are right. Your faith is great, its important, but so is your participation in life, namely small talk with friends and family.

Here's a big one that I recently witnessed. Some people turn to social networking for help in their lives, often reaching out to their friends. The problem is that many of these friends simply post comments such as "I'll pray for you" or "hang in there" causing much frustration. These generic terms seem to bring about an air of uncaring, causing individuals to become saddened and depressed with a side of hopelessness. When I find a friend calling out for help via social networking, I make it a point to message them privately using the sites built in email system. I ask questions about the help they need and offer what I can without using generic terms. This prevents hurtful feelings and shows that I really do care. Lastly, don't forget to post happy thoughts and events! Allow friends to share in your joys. This is what users want to see rather than the negative or pushy all the time. Getting married? Pregnant? Graduating? Post it. We want to share your joys with you. Thats what friends are for.

By following certain etiquette, you and others can thoroughly enjoy the connections made through social networking sites. Social networking is not a battle arena, an advertisement for controversial agendas or a place to insinuate humanity is dead. Take time to show your friends you appreciate them and think of them daily.