Top 5 List of Facebook Dis-Courtesies

Facebook is a useful and addictive opportunity for people to form social connections and keep up with existing friends. Unfortunately, it's also a great way to alienate co-workers and piss off your acquaintances.

Want to network using FB as a tool? Go for it. Just a few key scenarios you might want to avoid:

1. Party Planning Do's and Don'ts (Part 1)
Don't throw a party, invite some of your friends (or co-workers) and not others -- and then make the event public so everyone who is not invited can see that you have excluded them.

Privacy options people. Use them.

2. Party Planning Do's and Don'ts (Part 2)
Following up on the same logic, if you throw a party (or, say, a wedding) and choose not to invite a chunk of people on your friends list -- especially if they're friends with the ones you invited -- do yourself and everyone else a favour. Make that photo album of memories a private one. Say, between you and the people you actually invited to your event.

3. The Anti-Networking Tool
If you're a Facebook friend with some of the people you work with, and another co-worker adds you, don't ignore them. Makes it really obvious that as friendly as you may be at work, you don't really like them. Especially when you've added everyone else who sent you an invite. That person may be responsible for hiring (or making a recommendation on hiring) for a job you really want one day -- and now that they know how you feel about them, they won't be hiring or recommending you.

4. Getting Back In Touch Etiquette
Think you know someone? Haven't spoken with them in years? Poke them -- or better yet send them a message -- before adding them as a friend. Remember those older people who used to call your home when you were a kid? The ones who would say "do you know who this is?" rather than just introducing themselves as Great-Aunt-Julie on your paternal mother's side of the family? Yeah, it's like that.

5. Limited Profile Feature
Can you write on all of your Facebook friends' walls? Or do some of these so-called friends have you on a limited view option? Unless these are actually distant acquaintances (i.e. someone you met at a conference somewhere a few years back) the writing is -- or in this case is not -- on the wall. This person is not actually your friend. Depending on how much this reality annoys you, your recourse is to either put them on limited access to your profile as well ... or drop them as a FB friend altogether, on principle.

Facebook is a great way to reconnect with friends you haven't seen in years. But if you're not careful, you'll end up losing as many "friends" and potential opportunities as you gain.