The 4 Mistakes Women Make On Facebook Reporting

Teenagers aren't the fastest growing group of Facebook users. That distinction goes to grown up women. But as adults flock to social networking sites, they need to learn a new set of social skills. Sometimes these new rules of etiquette can be confusing.

Lisa Amore of Danvers is a 40-year-old mother, but she's acting a lot like a teenager these days as she checks out her Facebook page. She says she just got hooked and finds it addictive.

Figuring out all the new terms, such as friending, defriending, and flair, can be a challenge for a new user. In fact, many adults have no idea what's appropriate behavior on Facebook.

For example, someone from high school wants to be your friend, but you didn't really like this person back then. Do you have to accept them now?

Sametrias Sena, Ashley Jones, and Anouk Sickman – all students at Pine Manor College in Brookline – say it's OK to ignore that kind of request. They also say you shouldn't feel bad if you decide to defriend someone either.

Sametrias believes that older women understand the networking aspects of Facebook, but can get lost figuring out some of the other aspects of the site.

MISTAKE 1 - THE WALL

A common mistake is what to post on someone's wall. Anouk says older people often get it wrong, and will actually write their comments on their own wall. There's often confusion about privacy as well, with some adults not understanding that a wall posting is available to a much wider audience.

MISTAKE 2 - TMI!

Another error is posting "T-M-I", or too much information. Gigi Johnson, a media expert, says "If you are providing too much information and it's coming out in your status updates, you might be making people uncomfortable."

MISTAKE 3 - MUNDANE OVERLOAD

Then there is the overload of the mundane and the stupid. People who send out endless lists and quizzes, or provide a second by second account of their day. The Pine Manor students agree this is all unnecessary, and they don't need to know what people are eating, or when they are brushing their teeth.

MISTAKE 4 - PICTURES OF OTHERS

Another potential landmine comes with the posting of pictures. Lisa Amore explained that she had "put a lot of pictures on there, and I had people request to take them off. They didn't want their picture posted. I was like, 'Oh my gosh', I didn't think you might be bothered and I genuinely felt bad about it."

So Lisa hit a pothole on the information super highway. She still loves the ride. "It's totally positive. I am loving it."

WBZ News