The Facebook status update box has, no doubt, become the most effective way to relay information, feelings or thoughts to the whole world. Be careful what you post though, because anything you write can either make or break you. Below we have ranked 11 of the worst Facebook status that we (yes you and me), need to desist from using going forward.
Number 11: The Loooong, Boring Status
Long, boring status updates are not fashionable.
In the world of social media, the shorter you can keep your message the better. Long, boring statuses that comprise more than 5 sentences are an instant turn-off to many people and you better avoid them. Try to use the fewest words possible while leaving some parts of your message out for the reader’s imagination. Stick to a max of 140 – 200 characters. Learn more about length of status updates on this blog.
Number 10: The Bragging Status
Avoid bragging in each and every update you make.
A status update is annoying if it primarily serves the author and does nothing positive for anyone reading it. You know what; nobody really cares what you ate last night or what means of transport you used to get to work. Your Facebook status update should be at least one of the following 5 things:
- Interesting
- Informative
- Entertaining
- Amusing
- Funny
Number 9: The “Facebook” Football Commentator
Don’t update us with every moment of action in the field.
We all love football, in fact we (by “we” I mean your friends on Facebook) are very eager to see who will win #worldcup2014. But brothers and sisters we really don’t need you to update us with every minute of action in the stadium. We really appreciate your effort to bring us up to speed with current affairs, but kindly keep some of these updates to yourself. Only share the most important updates with us. The rest, leave us to figure out and join the dots.
Number 8: At Least Try To Use Correct Grammar
Let’s stop using the XOXO, XAXA language
The era of using the “xaxa” “xoxo” “LOLest” updates is long gone. Likewise, the era of using phrases that are grammatically wrong is so yesterday. It is high time we start checking the readability of everything we type out before clicking on the post button. Remember, a single word typed-in wrongly might even cause you to lose your job or customers! If you are not good in English (like most of us), use another language that you are well-versed in.
Number 7: The Vague Update
Avoid Making Vague Updates
The Facebook status update box is clearly labeled “What’s on your mind”. Ideally, one should post something that is easy to digest and painless to understand. Let’s avoid using the “cantekerous” and “discomfitous” type of words in our updates as these only serve to confuse the reader.
Number 6: Wrong Use of Hashtags
Don’t use irrelevant hashtags
Don’t put a # sign before each and every word you come across. Hashtags have a very clear role in the social media world and should therefore not be misused. For instance #WorldCup2014 is useful when you’re posting a World Cup message that you want to share with the rest of the world. #KOT would be useful when you want to share your message with Kenyans on Twitter. Hashtags work best when used on Twitter rather than Facebook actually.
Number 5: Relaying Unconfirmed Reports
Avoid relaying unconfirmed reports.
We all would like to be the first to break the latest news to our friends on social media. But what happened to authenticating the information before spreading it? Rumor-mongering is poisonous and the sooner we stop spreading rumors the better for our society.
Number 4: Always complaining
Complaining on Facebook won’t help.
Come on, we have heard you complaining way too many times “Serikali tunaomba”, “Serikali tafadhali”, “KPLC nkt!” ENOUGH! It is now time to do things a little differently. Your friends on Facebook are not Serikali and neither are they KPLC…or are they? Kindly give them a break by keeping some of these concerns to yourself or by contacting the relevant institutions for help.
Number 3: The sales guy
Don’t Oversell Using Your FB Status Update
Imagine sitting in your home watching your favorite movie and then all of a sudden a hawker comes in from nowhere: “Bei ya jioni, mali, mali, mali”, how would you feel? Annoyed, irritated, nagged or even angry right? Well, that’s exactly the same thing that happens to your friends when you keep pushing them to buy your merchandise with each and every status update you make on Facebook.
Number 2: The hate-speech peddler
Let’s avoid fueling ethnic animosity with every status update we make.
Enough of the tribal hatred brothers and sisters. Just because you come from tribe A does not mean that your brother from tribe B deserves to be insulted or bullied on social media. Before you hurl that piece of insult or post that disgusting photo on Facebook, take a minute and reflect on our cohesion as a country.
Number 1: Let the dead be!
Let’s not convey names and pictures of the dead on social media
We appreciate that you are a good social media user but kindly stop posting photos of our dead brothers and sisters killed in terror attacks on Facebook. How would you feel if you came across a photo or name of your deceased cousin doing rounds in social media? Surely, good people, we need to STOP this habit!
…and finally…
Do you have other some other Facebook updates or Tweets that you feel are so yesterday and we need to stop using them? Share them with us via the comment box below. Oh, and have you liked our Facebook Page yet? We’re also on Twitter as well, follow us.
You might find relevant to your research:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC-0dEPTNrg
