5 Things to Stop Posting on Facebook

I don’t usually discuss social media on this site, except when it’s about how to connect it to your WordPress site or how to promote your blog.

But this time I feel the need to rant a little about some of the posts I see on social media, particularly Facebook, and why I don’t want to see them anymore.

Don’t get me wrong. I like Facebook, which is not to be confused with me “Liking” it. I think the platform is a great way to communicate with people you know, as well as people you once knew in High School.

What I like most about Facebook (and Linkedin and Google+) is reading the articles that my “friends” wrote or curated, which turns my page into a singular News Feed. I also like seeing pictures of the places they go, the people they take selfies with, even the food they are about to eat. I enjoy the humorous memes friends share, and I will even tolerate the sometimes gag-inducing inspirational memes that remind me “I am here to change the world and I’m not alone.”

But there are some posts on Facebook that I absolutely can’t stand and I will elucidate them just in case you were thinking of making similar mistakes.

Here are five things I wish people would stop posting on Facebook:

1. Party pictures

You had a party, didn’t you? I see you posted a picture of the group who attended. Nice. Everyone looks very happy to be there. So, uh, how come you didn’t invite me to your party?

Before social media, would you have mailed a note with party pictures to all your uninvited friends to say, ‘Look at the cool party we threw and the cool people who attended,’ with the subtext being, ‘You weren’t invited.’ No one in their polite mind would blab about their party to their friends who weren’t invited, and yet people do this all the time on Facebook.

I posted a party picture once on Facebook, and I did it only once because a few days after the one time I posted it, I ran into a friend in a café who said, “How come I wasn’t invited to your party?”

I would never post another party picture again unless the post is targeted to the list of people who attended said party.

Guess that makes me a party pooper.

2. No comments, please

So you post a meme about a hot-button topic, saying it’s just food for thought, just sayin’, no comments please.

Oh no, you don’t! If you’re going to post something that is meant get people riled up, don’t expect to just sit back and relax. You had better be ready to defend your post or pull it off the page.

See, the point with posting is to say what you mean. It’s no good to post something you have no sense about or feeling for. If that were cool then the craziest stuff would get posted without any connection to where the poster is coming from and nobody would read Facebook anymore.

If you’re going to post it, you have to be ready to own it. Period.

3. Vague news

Now you’re posting that a really bad thing happened to you today. Or you’re angry at an unnamed someone. Or you are just feeling bad about something. End of post.

Ask yourself: why am I posting vague information about myself to the world?

Why are you worrying your friends about something they don’t understand? How can anyone help you when you are not passing enough information? Are you just seeking sympathy and attention? Stop it please. Being vague only unnerves people and you are better off phoning one friend to talk than blabbing vagueness into the Internet.

Remember, Facebook is not your therapist.

4. Boring news

Ok, you finished something and now you are going to bed because you have a busy day tomorrow and need your rest. Thanks for sharing.

Can you please expound on an activity that 7 billion people experience every day of their lives. I mean, don’t!

I understand that some people treat Facebook like a diary where they can share their most mundane thoughts and activities so they can reflect on them later. But that’s what the Friends tool is for.

If your post is so mind-curtlingly dull, but you want to remember it anyway, use the Friends dropdown tool to answer the question, “Who should see this,” with “Only me,” and spare your friends the drudgery of setting the post to “Hide.”

Please post interesting things and save the mundanities for your mom. She’ll love them.

5. Games and quizzes

So, the name your parent should have given you is Howard, in your past life you were a squirrel, your Games of Thrones charactor is Cersei, and your Rock and Roll band name is Dogface Orange.

Gahhh, please stop posting this pointless navel gazing!

And spare me also the news that you just won a million coins playing Farm Fortune.

Nothing screams, “I have too much time to waste!” than playing games and taking quizzes on Facebook. What does all that frivolity get you? Something to talk about over dinner? Some deep insight into your psyche? Fame? Money? Awards?

No, all these games do is waste your time. And by posting your results on Facebook, you announce to the world that you have nothing better to do than fool around with useless games on Facebook.

And if you’re like me, with not enough time in a day, nothing is more depressing than the knowledge that a friend, even just a Facebook friend, is frittering and wasting their hours in such an offhand way.

Now, a better and mildly creative alternative to playing Facebook games is to create a Dos Equis-style meme using your picture and a tagline that says, “I don’t always waste time but when I do, I waste it playing Facebook games.”

Now, that would be something to post!

But that’s just me

We all have our annoyances with social media and these are mine. What are the things you wish your Facebook friends would stop posting?

Now, for something completely different.

Help send me to Paris!

All I need is your vote for my recipe.

Long-time readers know that I’m into wine and that I post on another blog called Tasting Room Confidential.

As a Canadian blogger, I was eligible to enter the Cono Sur Blogger Competition by submitting a recipe paired with one of the Cono Sur wines. So I did.

I entered a baked pecan and pistachio-encrusted salmon recipe called Salmon William that I paired with the Cono Sur Bicicleta Viognior. It’s a truly delicious combo and I encourage you to try it.

How I get sent to Paris for the semi-final cook off depends on you. I need all my friends, fans, and family to vote for Salmon William on the Cono Sur site.

There are only 17 entries, so I think my chances are good. The downside is that half of those entries are from Canada and only two bloggers can represent one country.

So I need you, dear reader, to go to the Cono Sur site and vote for Salmon William. Hurry, there are only a few days left!

Please vote for me and I promise to never tell you about my Game of Thrones character on Facebook.

Cheers!