Don't Be a Party Pooper

Almost everyone likes a party - but nobody likes a party pooper. Thefreedictionary.com defines party pooper as: 1. One who declines to participate with enthusiasm, especially in the recreational activities of a group; 2. A person whose behaviour or personality spoils other people's enjoyment. While you might think you're all about fun, on Facebook you could be a party pooper and not even know it.
 
Many people have very strong feelings about politicians and their related parties. With the 2012 elections heading into the final months, Americans can expect to be confronted by political ads, news, opinions and commentary just about everywhere we turn - including Facebook. Many of us think it stinks that some of our friends feel their right to free speech includes the right to clutter everybody else's newsfeeds with propaganda that supports their candidates and platforms.

Honestly speaking, even if we aren't the type that wraps ourselves in the Stars and Stripes and proclaims from the rooftops our position on the wide variety of election hot- topics, we all still have opinions. Whether we identify strongly with a particular party or not,  we are apt to favor one candidate or issue over another in the various races and matters that concern us. And just maybe, somewhere in the distant or recent past, we even ventured to quietly 'like' a political page or article we agreed with. Before we find ourselves unwittingly impersonating our politically overbearing friends, it is time to reconsider what we 'like' with regard to candidates and issues.

Facebook has rolled out a new 'feature' where they can publish posts, under a heading showing your name and related 'like', to your newsfeed without your knowledge or consent. For more on this topic go to: The Ed Bott Report - Is Facebook Damaging Your Reputation with Sneaky Political Posts?   Following is a sample of an unauthorized post shown in the report:

The bad news is there is very little any of us can do to prevent these stories from appearing in our newsfeeds. We can hide each individual post but have no tools available to banish these featured posts from our newsfeeds altogether. The ultimate solution is to unfriend the people whose name the posts are appearing under - and that just doesn't seem right since they quite possibly didn't ever intend to initiate the problem.

In these times of controversial and divisive politics, do your friends a favor and edit out all things political from the 'like' list on your profile page. Don't be a party pooper (double entendre intended) or let Facebook ruin the goodwill you have created with your friend list that is likely comprised of people from both business and personal parts of your life, including those that don't agree with you politically.

Features are usually sold with benefits. Unless you are looking to shrink your group of friends in both your virtual and real worlds, I see no possible benefit to having Facebook make posts upon your behalf. It's manipulative and it stinks. And what happens when people aren't having fun at a party? They leave. Facebook just opened the door.

Related posts: Politics and Facebook Don't Mix, The Party Principle

Playing Hide & Seek on Facebook

These days it seems that I have hidden or blocked so many things from my Facebook newsfeed there's not much left to read. Everytime I log in I'm treated to a new kind of  hide-and-seek game. I hide everything (and nearly everyone) who is obnoxious while I seek entertaining and informative exchanges with friends. Though the childhood game involving groups of kids usually results in great fun, the Facebook version is anything but fun.

The most annoying thing I've blocked or hid is the real-time news Ticker on the right side of the newsfeed page. Some people call it the 'stalker ticker' as it creepily relates everything our friends comment on, like, read and listen to. Click on the arrow at the top right of the Ticker header to hide it. Rumor has it that Facebook may be eliminating it soon to free the space up for something else.

I've never understood why I should be interested in scores and levels achieved by my friends in the various game apps. The only interesting information those posts portray is how much time some people spend playing the games - particularly the ones who claim to be hard at work. Click on the arrow in the right corner of the post for the hiding options. Hiding the games can become a game in itself due to the number of new ones that keep popping up. Too bad I can't amass scores to brag about how many games I've killed from my newsfeed - now that would be fun!

Trending articles and trending videos have become annoying too. I really don't care what anybody else is listening to watching or reading. When they come across a particularly interesting article or video they usually post it to their feed anyway. To remove this clutter from your newsfeed click the arrow on the top right corner of the update for the choices available for removing it. This too may have to be done frequently as the updates are trending from various sources, e.g., Yahoo, The Washington Post, Spotify, etc.

Last, but not at all least, are the people. Yes, I have managed to 'friend' people who have proven to be too obnoxious for me. Some are trying to save my soul while others are trying to sell me their products, books or seminars. Others are chronic reposters (see previous post Repeating Bleating....baa baa!), and some just need to chronically share their appetite for gross and offensive humor. I haven't hidden anybody for the excessive posts about their kids yet, but they're now getting closer to the top of my annoying offenders list. If you are ready to elminate posts from people who bug you -there are two options: 

1. Click the arrow at the right of their post for options to unsubscribe from some posts or hide them altogether, or
2. Move your cursor over the 'friends' button on their profile page and select 'unfriend'

If you ever want to go back and see who and what you've hidden, hover your cursor over 'Newsfeed' just under your profile photo on the left side of your newsfeed page. Click on the pencil that appears to view and, in case you've had a change of heart, make the changes to allow some updates back on your page.

Now that that we all know how to hide the annoying stuff, let's get out and seek the fun. OLLY OLLY OXEN FREE!

Oversharing (Infographic)

Facebook is a social-sharing site. People share tidbits about various things in their lives. I won't try to address the riddle (at least not today) of: Do narcissists naturally take to Facebook like a duck to water - or is it Facebook that turns nice normal people into lunatic narcissists? But no matter who you ask the simple question of "Do people share too much on Facebook" the easy answer is almost always "yes". 

The infographic Are People Sharing Too Much Online? reveals some interesting numbers.