2.     Keep scrolling if you hate Jesus & Like to Punch Baby Pandas

I hope whoever came up with chain emails (i.e. forward this to 1000 people or you will die a slow, painful death)  is being tortured in a Guantanamo bunker somewhere, but alas, I know that person is still alive because he/she has found a new home on Facebook.  You know exactly what I’m talking about.  You’re scrolling down your timeline, catching up on your ‘friends’ activity and you see this photo:

COME ON FACEBOOK!!!  Other variations are ‘Like and Share if you Love Jesus!!!  Keep scrolling to live a fiery eternity in Hell!!!!!’  Seriously?!?!  Now, I love grandma and I want all grandmas to live forever but I’m not going to share and like every picture of grandma, or jesus, or baby pandas that I see to avoid some stupid fate that WON’T FRICKIN HAPPEN!  So stop it!  Please!

Agreed, this kind of post should STAHP.

8.     Facebook Debates 

I really like debating.  For me, it is a great way to learn both sides of an argument and it can allow you to make a decision on what side you’re on.  HOWEVER: Facebook Debating = Not Good Debating

It amazes me what people will say when they are on the internet because most, if not all, of them would never dream of saying the same thing to your face.  After the Newtown tragedy, the gun debate started raging across the country.  I have a lot of friends on both sides of the argument that love putting their views on Facebook.  That is fine!  I decided to enter a pro-gun debate to learn more about it.  I don’t know a lot about guns, the assault weapons ban, etc. to make an informed decision on what side to take so I thought I would pose some questions and see if I could learn a thing or two (this was my mistake).  I believe my first question was in regards to background checks on private gun sales.  I have never had people jump down my throat so fast.  It was ludicrous!  All I was trying to do was gather information and thoughts on the issue and these people revert to name calling and swearing.  I was appalled.  I quickly left the debate and vowed never to join a Facebook debate again.

As in any debate, talking down to someone, calling them stupid, or anything where you are not simply intelligently arguing your position is not a good way to gain support for your cause.  I understand passion but you have to contain it and control yourself if you want to get your point across in the best way possible.  In regards to Facebook, even though you’re on the internet, for god sakes, you can still be polite and argue your case.  You would be amazed how far that will go.

On the other side, for those of you that post pictures or comments on controversial topics, don’t get mad when people comment (as long as it is civil; feel free to go off if it is not).  If you are putting a touchy subject out there, be prepared for the onslaught of comments and don’t act all surprised that people disagree with you.  You look dumb.

Facebook was not built for sophisticated dialogue. It was built for simple comments.

And my pet peeve:

9.     Be Your Own Fact Checker!!

Again, common sense everyone!!!  It is such a valuable quality in a person.  If you’re posting facts, statistics, etc. about a cause you’re passionate about, why don’t you double-check that source, just for the fun of it?  It should only take a few seconds.  Just make sure you can back up your facts.  It will save you from a world of hurt in the form of know-it-all comments.

The Internet in general has made it so easy to fact check that there's really no excuse.