This post is probably about you.  You are probably guilty of over sharing information, your personal feelings or ignorance on the mega social media site called Facebook and what you don’t understand is that by doing so you may ruin the very connections that are dear to your existence, even your lively hood.

There are nearly 700 million people on Facebook. You may only have 7, 70 or 700 friends but keep in mind they are friends with other people and before you know it you are the star in your own Kevin Bacon game. They are reading what you are writing. Half the time they are probably skimming your nonsense.  People really don’t care how much coffee you have consumed, that your job sucks, or if Betty Sue stole your baby name but there are those times when something catches their eye, they will click the Like button or even comment. Sometimes a status update can generate a thoughtful conversation, a friendly debate, or a down right nasty argument.

Facebook has become one of the easiest, fastest ways to disperse information out to a large group of people. In a matter of minutes news can go around the world, and back. So it should be no surprise that when you change your relationship status on Facebook that before the day ends everyone you know and then some will know if you are single, in a relationship, it’s complicated, or getting divorced. Today Facebook is being used to announce the birth of a baby and the death of a loved one to if someone had a healthy bowel movement after breakfast. We have all seen those status updates that made us say TMI. I surely don’t want to know that Uncle Raymond has been getting jiggy with his old lady friend and I don’t want to read about my sweet nieces and nephews getting drunk or seeing pictures of their half naked bodies grinding in the club. Some things are just better left unsaid and unknown.

I am definitely one to over share on Facebook. I posted a link to a picture of my uterus after my hysterectomy and talked about getting my boobies smashed when I had a breast cancer scare. I also have branded myself and this blog as being open, honest and tell it like it is however even I have lines. Somethings really shouldn’t be aired in public because when you start broadcasting it it could have far reaching consequences to your personal life and even your professional life.

For example, what sparked this entire post was that last night in my news feed I saw a local, popular jeweler I had friended write some racially charged comments about President Obama. I really don’t care if you like our president or not, but what I do care about is if you make comments about wanting him dead, think he should hang from a tree by the neck like an ape, and making hateful comments about his wife and children. I don’t care if you are a redneck from lower Alabama and have pulled a straight Republican ticket since you were legally able to vote, these are comments that should not be on your Facebook page for several hundred people to read. I do not want to read your sexist comments and derogatory comments about women in politics by calling them whores. I’m pretty certain, because I know this mans customers, that women and men with liberal leaning politics have given this man thousands of dollars of their money, not to mention voted for President Obama. This is one of those times you need to sit on your fingers and keep your bigoted, sexist, political views to yourself. I can assure you that not only did I unfriend this fellow but I also will never give him one cent of my money.

Concerning personal relationships, I suggest you not air your dirty laundry about your marriage or your romantic relationships. I really do not want to know if your significant other has been cheating on you. Calling out your best friend for sleeping with your husband in your status is probably not something that needs to be shared with all 200 of your “friends” or hers. Changing your relationship status multiple times a day to indicate anger really just indicates how immature you are, not the person you are trying to get to notice your shenanigans. If you really want to make all your friends and family feel uncomfortable go ahead and post “I know you sucked Bob’s dick you bitch” on your girlfriend’s wall. And if you are laughing and think that this is something funny I am just making up you couldn’t be more wrong. This is the kind of thing I’ve seen weekly, if not daily in my news feed. I can’t think of a faster way to alienate your inlaws than to call out their son for being a cheating, no good son of a bitch and asking if that baby really is his or to tell your wife that you would love to slam her head into the wall for disagreeing with you on Facebook. I wish I was making this stuff up, but I’m not. So let me put it to you simply – keep the drama of your arguments, your break-ups, your baby mama/daddy drama, and anything else that may make you both look like fools off Facebook. Let gossip travel the old fashioned way, over the telephone line and at the water cooler at work.

While I am an outspoken person I will be the first to admit that there are times you should hold your tongue. Keep in mind that Facebook is PUBLIC and NOT PRIVATE. The status may be yours but keep in mind that everyone in your friend list can read it and they can also share it with whomever they please. With the click of a smartphone and strokes on a keyboard your entire wall can be frozen in time as a screenshot to be shared in emails, text messages, and on webpages. What you say on Facebook can easily turn into the shot heard around the world in your social circles. Before you start typing you need to ask yourself if what you are about to write is going to make you look like a douche bag. If you use politically incorrect words be prepared for people to call you out on it and not only defriend you, but possibly never speak to you again. Tell some off color joke making fun of special needs kids and calling them retards and you are asking for a riot to erupt on your Facebook page. All of these things I have seen at one time or another in the two and a half years I have been on Facebook.

So let me break this down for you. Don’t put your dirty laundry out on Facebook. Don’t share the personal details of your relationship on Facebook. Mind your manners by not using inflammatory language about politics, special needs children, gay people, women or people of color. In fact keep all racist, sexist, homophobic, and religious intolerance to yourself. Remember that once you put it out there you can’t take it back even if you go back and click on the delete button. I’m just saying.

Have fun, but don’t be dumb.