Facebook provides a social outlet that portends a certain degree of distance from your interactions. On one hand you are closer than ever to your social network. You can observe daily life in a way previously privatized. But on the other hand, the people you interact with are not in the same room as you. There is a virtual separation, a hiddenness which lends itself to behavior that would be otherwise unacceptable in person. 

The rule of thumb for Facebook behavior is the same as it is in real life interactions. In fact, you need to be even more careful due to the ease of quickly typing out and posting a comment with little to no thought. Most people guard their verbal words faster than their typed ones. Your thoughts can be shared instantly without time for them to be thought better of or fashioned into something more tactful. 

It could be assumed that if someone airs their personal life publicly, comments are fair game. However, the impact of a comment without ability to know the tone in which it was rendered can cause more damage than a face to face interaction. It is there on the person’s Facebook for all to read again and again, the damage continuing onward. You must think before you type. If you wouldn’t say it publicly, do not say it on Facebook. If you ought not say it publicly, do not say it on Facebook.

If you are posting personal information, utilize the message option rather than posting on someone’s wall. Keep phone numbers, addresses, meeting places, and personal details that should be kept between friends in the messages and not in the comments. This is respectful to the Facebook friend you are talking to and to the rest of the community.

Another matter of etiquette is when to join a conversation and when it is best to read from a distance. Every post has a place for comments. However, sometimes if the conversation is between two or three people it may be better not to weigh in just as you would not in a social gathering. There seems to be a difference between a list of unrelated comments to the original post and a discussion forming between the poster and a commenter. It is undefined, and one must use their best social skills judgment on knowing when to comment.

Additionally, if you are the poster of a controversial statement, be prepared for a slew of comments from those seeking to debate the matter. It goes with the territory. If you post something of this nature, be sociable to discussion happening. One cannot simply post it without any room for disagreement. In fact, have fun with it. Post thoughtful questions or comments to engender discussion so that people are invited to think about a matter in a judgment-free zone of interaction.

The bottom line is the same social etiquette of in-person interactions should carry over to Facebook. It shouldn’t become a place where people throw off kindness and embrace rudeness. Another word to the wise, Facebook is rapidly becoming utilized in court rooms as written proof to aid in the winning of law suits. If you don’t mean it, don’t say it. If you mean it and it is incriminating, don’t say it. All one needs to do is print it out and it becomes very helpful in a court of law.

Everyone must govern their behavior because you need to treat people as you want to be treated. Facebook is just a tool of social interaction; it does not remove the guidelines of good behavior. In fact, it must magnify those guidelines in order for it to work and be a tool people are comfortable utilizing. Think before you type, and follow the Golden Rule and you will increase your safe navigation of Facebook.