Imagine yourself standing on a stage with a microphone looking out at most of our high school’s students and loudly proclaiming “I just want you all to know that I’m really bored! Text me!” While that may seem strange, in a lot of ways it’s very similar to the kind of social interaction that we participate in everyday.

It’s called Facebook, and it hardly needs an introduction. A quick count reveals that more than 85% of UHS high schoolers are signing in, meaning that this website’s bound to catch the best of us at times… and the worst. To avoid the latter, we should all heed this advice to keep our brains logged in when we are:

Facebook does not equal boxing ring.  Often times, our news feeds are graced by two or more people who really want to fight in front of 100 people or so. I suppose the line of thinking is “now I can say all the nasty things I couldn’t think fast enough to say to her face!” If you wouldn’t yell your disgust toward so-and-so down the hallway, don’t say it on Facebook. Heck, if you would yell it down the hallway, it’s still not a good idea. What’s ironic is that no one wins. It’s not like after a Facebook fight we all highly respect the one that said the wittiest thing. Nope. Most of the time when people fight on Facebook, they both lose.

While losing a Facebook spat may be bad, it can’t compare to the hurt of losing a boyfriend/girlfriend. A break up is a time to talk with friends and family and work things out, not give a play-by-play of the whole thing via status updates. A person may think that posting sad and sometimes passive aggressive song lyrics is ultra clever, but it’s not. Couple this with an online Facebook brawl and you’ve got yourself a whole lot of no fun.

Last but not least is what I like to call the “ASK ME ASK ME ASK ME!” Facebook status.  A person will post something like. “Wow people, get a life” for two reasons. 1) Its a really not-so-subtle way to ridicule someone, and 2) because they really want people to ask “What’s wrong?”, most likely because it’s an easy way to get attention.  

Ranting aside, the point remains. Facebook is a great way to connect with friends and strengthen relationships. Unfortunately, it’s pretty good at doing the opposite, too. By avoiding these common mistakes, and remembering that what we say online can sting, we can get rid of those nasty comments, keep our friends, and gain some great laughs along the way.