How To Use Facebook

As a company, Facebook has given us some legal terms that outline what the company will do, what we should do, what they expect us to do if we don’t like what they’re doing, and what they will do if we do something that we shouldn’t do.

That’s not what this post is about. This post is a personal Facebook user policy. It’s a bit of etiquette, a dab of protocol, and pretty much the reasons I post what I do and abstain from posting what I don’t.

Concerning Statuses (statai):

I generally veer away from the standard prompts given by the content people at Facebook. The “What’s on your mind” and “What’s your New Year’s resolution” stuff is usually ignored by me.

I hate statuses that are pointless. By pointless, I mean something you would not normally inform others of; it’s not funny and it has no importance in any other sphere of life. For example: “Just dusted the hearth.” is not a vital piece of information. It’s not funny (unless you like the word hearth), and I really don’t care whether your house is clean or not (unless I’m coming over).

Overly personal statuses are not bad in and of themselves, but if you are sharing them publicly, or with people with whom you would not normally share such information, then be prepared for feedback that may not be ideal. Please don’t get mad when someone faults you or comments in a negative manner on your post. You put it out for the world to see, and you should expect the world to not be very nice.

Self deprecating statuses should not be used to garner support; these can easily backfire. Private information should not be posted if you don’t want it public (just use common sense). Try to spell stuff correctly.

The Posting of Photos/Videos:

Once again, common sense should be used liberally. In fact, I recommend using as much as you have available. Once a photo or video is published, it could go any of a number of places. Once others have access to it, there is no guarantee of permanent deletion, so don’t upload things that you’ll regret! Don’t upload a picture of yourself proclaiming how ugly you are and expect people to deny your claims. You might want to talk to a counselor if you’re constantly trying to find affirmation through Facebook.

Those “chain-mail” photos, don’t share them. Sorry for yelling, but seriously, a creeper won’t show up at your house if you refuse to “like” that image, you won’t die tonight because you didn’t share that post, and Jesus will still love you if you ignore that picture of him in your news feed. Sharing or liking an image on Facebook is not going to feed starving kids in Africa; if you want to help the needy, then I suggest getting off the computer and into the world.

Comments

Don’t be that person. You know, the one who leaves really awkward comments that are really hard to respond to (and try not to embarrass others by saying something publicly that you intended only for them.)

Messaging

If you send someone a message, don’t leave them hanging. That’s just not polite.

Person 1: Hey, guess what!
Person 2: Hey!
Person 2: What?
Person 2: Hello?
Person 2: R u there?
…five years later…
Person 1: Hey!

The Little Stuff

Link spamming is annoying; don’t do it. If you’ve shared something once, there’s no need to share it five more times. Game invites: please don’t (protip: set the privacy option of “who can see posts from this app” as “only me,” that way the app won’t be automatically spamming others without your consent). Don’t tag people in product images, that’s just rude. Don’t add all of your friends to a group that’s going to spam their news feeds with stuff they don’t like, again, rude.

That should get you started, anyway. What annoys you? Do you have any tips for the general populace of Facebook? Let me know in the comments!

~ XK

How To Get Into the Christmas Spirit

It’s time for another incredibly useful and absolutely essential and indubitably indispensable how-to!

If you’ve had a twelvemonth anything like mine, Christmas has sneaked up on you this year. That day of merry-making, mistletoe, and gift-giving is only seven days away!! The radio has been attempting to drill that fact into my head for the past month, but I have successfully avoided that ploy by boycotting all stations that play, have played, or are planning to play the song “Christmas Shoes.” I have avoided decorating; I try not to do too much shopping, and the only movie I have been to was the midnight premiere of The Hobbit. In fact, due to my Grinch-like behavior, it seems that I have almost forgotten the holidays altogether!

To remedy this perilous situation, and to prevent my offending of the poor little Whos of Whovillle, I have determined to bring myself to have sympathy for those besot by the mood of the season.

With very little further delay, let us commence the how-toing of the getting intoing of the Christmas Spirit.

First of all, I have acquired for myself some music that both fits my tastes and the thematic setting of the world around me. A Christmas metal mix, a mix of Christian Indie artists singing Christmas carols, and a classic album from Relient K comprise the majority of my listening now. This seems to be making some headway.

I also decided that while I didn’t really want a full-sized conifer brought into our home to shed its joy and needles, a small table-top version would not be that terrible. The cheery little reminder of bright lights and ornaments (yet to be placed upon its boughs) sits and beckons our attention.

While I don’t like dressing in holiday apparel, perhaps you do. Good for you. Please don’t bring your reindeer antlers near me.

One thing I love about this time of year is that people seem incredibly inclined to cook sweet things. Throughout most of the year, cookies and brownies are about as special as the deserts get, but now that the 25th is rolling around, I’ve had cinnamon rolls and cakes and cookies and éclairs and candies and all kinds of stuff! (I do so love to eat.)

Finally, I looked at a book that’s been a bit too long neglected. Why, exactly, is the Bible one of the least prominent of decorations yet one of the most integral to the origins of the holiday? Perhaps, though, Christ’s Mass has become so only in name. True, hundreds of millions of people celebrate the holiday, but do they do so for the tradition or for the observance something more? In the US, it’s practically impossible to avoid the effects of the commercialization of Christmas, and it seems as though even the Christmas spirit has been commercialized. All that I listed above has nothing to do with Christ, yet this is His Mass, and I suppose we could give Him a bit more than a second-place seat to a fat old man with a troop of reindeer and a collection of midget slaves. So, isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?

And if you’re not in the “Christmas Spirit” now, I’m afraid there’s no hope for you, Charlie Brown.

~XK

How to Rid Oneself of Writer’s Block

I must admit, I’ve come down with a very serious case of writer’s block. I don’t think it’s contagious, but I’ve taken the precaution of wearing a face mask, and you may want to wash your hands after you finish reading this.

I decided that the best way to rid myself of this plague is to force myself to write something. Writing something is usually not a difficult task, though it seems that lately I’m all ideas. I come up with a great idea, I gradually forget it, then I record pieces and fragments. I currently have about 15 unfinished drafts in my “new posts” folder. I just can’t seem to get past the first paragraph in any of them. I’ve tried caffeine, loud music, cats, and spinning in my chair, but none of it seems to be working.

I went back and read some of my old posts. All I accomplished with that was the discouragement of myself and the editing of some of the less-well-written posts.

I tried blogging in a college setting, but I got distracted by my surroundings and instead wrote a rather depressing note.

I tried to do a photo blog, but my camera doesn’t seem to work on its “take all the pictures on its own” mode.

I’ve been working on a special blog post, but it needs to be perfect, and perfection is proving very difficult to obtain.

I thought about writing some fiction, but I discovered that my idea’s already been taken and run with for quite a distance. I do hate beating dead horses; they’re so stinky.

So, in the end, I decided to scribble a bit about my lack of motivation to write. My lack of motivation stirred an even stronger motivation to shed my lackadaisical spirit and move on to a greater state of non-writing-impairedness. (I’m having fun making up words.)

So, I’m not sure if I’ve cured the block or merely dissuaded it from affect for a while. This seems to have worked  well, as this post was written fairly quickly and with relative ease. Perhaps the writer’s block is gone. Perhaps I can once again use my keyboard for more than just logging in. Perhaps my sandwich is ready, but that doesn’t have much to do with this post… 

Good Day!

~XK