Can you imagine if you were to be made accountable for every joke and funny comment you made when hanging out with your friends? Life would really stink. I have recently seen a lot of people getting annoyed with, or embarassed by their friends on Facebook, Orkut and the kind. Why do people take social networking so seriously? Is it a problem understanding written communication or is it that our malicious minds just expect the worse from people?  Or is it a simple lack of good old common sense? I think it’s all of it, and if you just add a bit of insecurity to the pile, social networking can become a pain. I have come to a few personal decisions regarding social networking and there’s no harm in sharing them.

1. The benefit of the doubt: A difficult concept in today’s society. People are not as mean as we expect them to be, so give your (or someone else’s) friends the benefit of the doubt, take it with a pinch of salt. Relax.
2. The e-persona: We all have it, yes we ALL do. That sarcastic, naughty part of us that comes alive when we go online.
3. The intonation (or lack of it). This one goes with #1 (not what you are thinking, e-persona). Most languages base the entire meaning of a sentence in its intonation. So when reading something, try not go with your very first impression, especially if it’s a negative one.
4. TWRTCS:  stands for “Think Write Read Think Correct Share(or not)” – it’s a friendship saviour. I can’t number how many times I have written something really funny (at least I thought it was) but didn’t share as a public comment, because I just took time to read it again before sending and saw it could be misunderstood.
5. Avoid work colleagues (specially your boss):  You really don’t want your “private social life” to paint a different picture of you to your boss. It’s not about being fake, but they may not chose to give you the benefit of the doubt and may think that your e-persona is the real one. If you do have your boss on your social network just be very aware of what you write. Unless she/he are really cool!
6. Privacy: Don’t write on someone’s wall about something that is more of a private issue, either yours or theirs.
7. Get a life: Being in touch with friends on social network sites is fun but it can take over your life, and turn you into a very annoying “comment on everything” kind of person.

Add to it if you like….

Technorati Tags: Facebook, My Space, Ning, Orkut, Social Networking

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