This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Social Media Etiquette 101: Just Because You Can Doesn't Mean You Should-Facebook

Being careful on your social media sites

With smartphones and wifi access basically anywhere that you, technology has made it so much easier to be able to share pictures of your spring break trip to Florida, the bar hopping you did on 'Thirsty Thursday,' or update that relationship status. But as always, etiquette rules do apply in case you didn't realize.

I, for one, have been guilty of updating a status that was just a little too depressing for people to care to read.

But hey, who hasn't?

Find out what's happening in Canon-Mcmillanwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

1. Friending and Unfriending- Your best friend from middle school friends you because you either have friends in common, or genuinely wants to keep in touch? Great! If you or the other person 'friend' each other and after months of it, don't talk much at all, maybe it's time to 'delete' that friend. Doesn't mean you have to delete him or her out of your life, there just might not be as much in common as you thought. People grow apart. And really, just because you have more than 1,000 friends on facebook doesn't mean you're popular.

2. Always think before you speak- Does that rant about my ex-bf really need to be posted? Do posts revealing that I beat the next level of bejewled spam my wall too much? Keep it civil people, keep it civil.

Find out what's happening in Canon-Mcmillanwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

3. Online photo albums- Sharing photos online can be a great way to keep those fond memories but be sure to edit the pictures, there's tons of online free editing sites. (LunaPic-http://www.lunapic.com/editor/) Also, ask your friends if they want to be tagged in it or not because some people may not be comfortable having that picture of him or her in a bathing suit floating around the Internet clouds. Remember the golden rule, put yourself in your friends' shoes: Would you want him or her to post a bad picture of you online for the world to see?

4. Privacy- If you’re the type who minds and is careful about what you put on Facebook, but your friends are a bit more 'whatever' about what they share, do yourself a favor and customize your settings so you see only the updates you want, and you broadcast your news only to those friends who will share it wisely.

5-Hurtful words- Sure, it may be easier to get away with being mean online, but then again, can you really tell what a person is saying or thinking with an emoticon? Remember, if someone says something negative, doesn't mean you need to respond. But, if you do feel the need to respond, please be careful what you say to be sure to not make yourself look bad.

Those are my five simple tips to keep your facebook life a little simpler. Stay tuned for a part two on Twitter

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Canon-Mcmillan