You know what, I’m cool with you ranting about your political views, the love of your life, and the achievements you’ve had recently. Even if I don’t see eye to eye with your political views, or I think you’re so unbelievably stupid and I cannot fathom someone with an intellect as low as yours, I’m okay with you writing your opinions on politics because they’re your opinions and everyone is entitled to their own (but hey, maybe take it easy with the “I hate gays, Muslims, and women” posts). Okay, so maybe I lied about the whole “love of your life thing.” All good things come in moderation and you’ll read about that more later in this article. I’m even proud of people when I read about their acceptance to grad schools, accepting the job of their dreams, and studying abroad in some beautiful foreign country I couldn’t even fathom traveling to in my wildest dreams. So, if you’ve been posting any of those things, good for you! On the other hand, I have 5 things I suggest you don’t share on your social networking sites.
1. Money Problems
If I had a dollar every time I saw someone create a GoFund Me for a wedding, a Church trip, a doctor’s appointment for you or your dog (I would probably donate to the dog though), etc., I wouldn’t have a money problem. I get it, you have money problems but so does about 80% of the United States. In 2015, American’s owed a total of $935.6 billion in credit card debt and $1.2 trillion in student loans. I don’t care how tight money is because as I keep scrolling through my News Feed, I see that you keep going to all these expensive EDM music festivals, shopping at expensive places, or literally eat and drink out at the bar every single night. I cringe at your long sob story about how much you love Jesus so if we love Jesus, we should donate so you can go on your mission trip. I definitely don’t want to read how many times you’ve been fired from a job. Speaking of your job that brings me to tip number two.
2. Your Job
So you hate your job? Great, guess what? Your employer could possibly read that. Your negativity and they way you write about your co-workers, peers, and personal things that happen to you at work are probably the reason why you’re on your nineteenth job in the past six months. I have had co-workers in the past share things on social media like “management is the reason people hate their jobs.” Fun fact: management is also the reason people lose their jobs. So, next time you want to write about how much your feet hurt from working all day, how much you hate the uniform at work, how hard it is to clean up at close, or how much you hate your boss and the people around you- just know that there’s someone way more important than me reading the same exact thing.
3. Relationships- In Moderation
Remember what I said earlier about moderation? There is a spectrum of appropriate things to post on social media about you and your significant other. To the left, there’s the SO/ex that completely dogs their counterpart on social media. In addition to that, there’s also the lonely single person that constantly writes about their singleness. There's not many people on the left end of the spectrum, but I do know that they DO exist and if they keep it up, they'll never gradually move to another part of the spectrum because they are CRAZY. To the right, there’s the “head over heels” couple. I don’t want to see your constant #wcw and #mcm with a 500-word synopsis of why you love each other. Did you have a life before you got into your relationship? Your public displays of happiness are grossing me out. Find a good balance and don’t ever slip too far to one end of the scale.
4. Your Negative Perceptions of Yourself
There is a difference between being open and “fishing for compliments.” If you write “Ew, I look so gross in this picture” or “I hate this picture of me” on a picture YOU posted, I’m hardcore judging you and so is everyone else. You actually really like that picture and you are screaming for the Internet’s attention. Stop selling yourself short for a like or a comment or a “no way, girl, you look SO good!” I know you say you’re writing about how you want to lose 25 pounds for “accountability” but you actually want people to tell you how bangable you are. And please, for the love of God, don't share an old photo and say "I miss how skinny I was back then!" We get it, before periods and birth control none of us had boobs or curves or junk in the trunk. But we also had braces, un-flat-ironed hair, and wore Hollister denim skirts so if you want to revert back to 2007 that's all on you.
5. The “share this post if” Bulls***
Does this even need explaining? I don’t care that your stripper name is Purple Cereal because that’s the color of your underwear and the last thing you ate- “share with your name!” I do not care about the “share if you’re brave” status updates that you’re sharing. I definitely don’t care about your “share if you agree” post. Why don’t you stop sharing these stupid “share this post if” and start spreading some knowledge on your social media. Look into sharing Business Insider, Huffington Post, and this article instead.
