The longer I spend on Facebook, the more annoyed I become about certain things. Now I am not talking about all the annoying things a “free” platform that has 5 million users does or does not do. I’m talking about the human component to FB that is as correctable as teaching a child manners. As Facebook becomes a daily part of our lives there have to be some rules and guidelines as adults – especially those we can pass to our children. However, as many adults struggle to learn what the kids are doing, the kids are often on to some new technology. It is tough to teach what you do not know. We were all taught good table manners and though some have better table manners than others – we all understand them. Then comes something new such as social media and all of a sudden you have a “Social Media gone wild” without rules or guidelines from proper upbringing.

My favorite way to get feedback these days is by using Facebook itself “crowdsourcing.” Wow – when I asked about etiquette and pet peeves – the thread of comments came pouring in. Of course, I think my record breaking comment thread is when I asked “over or under” for toilet paper – LOL.

Also, while getting ready to write this post, I decided to conduct an experiment. You see, I have quite a few Facebook friends (/gretaperry I will friend you back) and lots of people drop promotional or inappropriate content on my wall. I have fun and play on FB but also have a professional side to maintain. And I stopped giving away free promotions and advice this year (well I still do a lot of non-profit promotion but when I want & I am writing you this piece). So I shut off posting privileges on my wall for 2 weeks. This resulted in:

* Comments on existing threads saying, “Hey – your wall would not let me post.”
* More private messages instead of public FB personal posts.
* Notifications via email regarding posts I was tagged in instead of them showing up on my wall.
* A more controlled Facebook wall and not feeling the need to delete private inside jokes or self-promotion from a FB friend.

I have turned my Facbook wall posting privileges back on for the time being and will just delete but frankly – I kind of liked it. Maybe FB will create a post moderation option. You hear me FB? You should listen to me!!! And I love this Mashable post about wall netiquette.

OK – back to pet peeves/etiquette. Here are what the crowd gave me & I added a few of my own:

* Posting spam on comment threads – trolling on FB.
* Spelling, grammar and textspeak.
* Carry on conversations on wall-to-wall vs. a comment thread.
* All those Farmville/game requests. (see blocking apps)
* Not understanding privacy settings then complaining about it.
* Insulting someone on your friend’s thread without adding constructive criticism.
* People saying things they would never say to someone’s face on the computer.
* People who join a gazillion groups and suggest I join them too.
* People who complain about app posts because they have not figured out how to block the app.
* People who only post political stuff. (don’t follow them)
* FB stalking.
* Butting into someone’s private/public FB conversations. (I think those should be private)
* People referring to people in posts when we have no idea who they are. (too bad)
* Things that are meant to stay off FB being put on FB.
* Groups that email too much!
* Tagging someone in an old picture without asking first.
* People having posting remorse.
* People that include me in mass message for a conversation.
* Relationship drama in status.

Oh ya – love this snarky blog on Facebook etiquette!

This is where Yatmedia can come in play. Yes, we are adults, parents and social media experts. As a bonus, we were both high school teachers at one point in our lives. We understand kids, we can teach and we get social media because that is the foundation of our company. So the answer in case you were dying to hire us to speak about social media…we are for hire!

c/p at Yatmedia.com