12 types of Facebook updates to avoid

No hard sales. No guilt trips. And for Pete’s sake, run that ‘amazing story’ through Snopes before you post it.

Ragan Insider Premium Content
Ragan Insider Content

To that end, here are 12 types of Facebook posts you should avoid. After all, could you see yourself handing out any of this at a cocktail party?

1. Disturbing photos

Pictures of starving babies, burned dogs, and people with horrible disfigurements are in poor taste and are very upsetting to some people. We know there is usually a very good cause involved, but use some discretion.

2. Hard sales

Not everyone is in the market for expensive make-up or real estate. Share something the whole class can enjoy.

3. Guilt trips

“Make this your status for an hour or else you were a) not raised right or b) don’t care about babies with cancer” just makes people feel bad. The modern version of a chain letter doesn’t help the cause.

4. Games

This is like forcing people to play charades when they hate parlor games. Ask them first if they like games and whether they will mind the hacks, spams and viruses that come with some of them.

5. Urban myths

Before posting that eating pomegranate seeds will cause your kneecaps to burst, run it through Snopes.

6. Religion

Don’t assume everyone shares your faith. There are places people can go for fellowship and like-minded praise and worship: actual buildings and private Facebook groups.

To read the full story, log in.
Become a Ragan Insider member to read this article and all other archived content.
Sign up today

Already a member? Log in here.
Learn more about Ragan Insider.