I think "too far" is posting fetal sonogram photos online. Aren't some things private anymore? Like the inside of your uterus?

I used to know someone who checked in a funerals, posted pictures of practically everything she cooked and was always posting sexually suggestive status's and pictures. We all knew anytime her and her boyfriend had sex or were planning on having sex. I took her out of my news feed so her posts wouldn't annoy me.

Dissing and complaining about family members, who appear to have committed the crime of having their own life. I caved and advised a young lady that her twitter vents would only further drive away her brother, not bring him back to the dysfunctional family fold.

Someone posted a picture of their kid (pants down but parts hidden) on their potty-training toilet the other day. I was pretty amazed at how many people "liked" it.

I found out that I was going to be an aunt for the first time via my sister's FB status update. I wish I was joking.

I am always amazed at how many people post endless streams of photos of their children with total lack of forethought into their own children's privacy or future wishes. How will they feel about this at 12, 16, 25, 35 etc?

How about posting your labor progress (including how dilated/effaced your cervix is)? Ew.

I've had one friend post about how much getting an IUD felt like being "punched in the uterus" and another one talk about her pap smear results.

I'm a preeeetty open person, but posting about your junk to the world seems a bit excessive.

The (+) stick announcing a pregnancy. It's 'cute' (yay new baby!) but really: posting something you peed on?

Some people use it well. While others, well, I guess I'd disagree with their decisions of what they feel is appropriate.

Some people document the entire dissolution of their relationship through exchanges on each others wall complete with accusations and personal details. While others use it to boast of their perceived romantic prowess.

My favourite is someone I know bragging of their collections. Nice pictures. And great advertising of the contents of their home while they are updating their holiday status from abroad.

Facebook and other like sites are successful because they tap into the basic human need to be loved and wanted. People want the satisfaction of the "likes". It makes them feel warm and fuzzy. Unfortunately because of that, many, to a certain extent, have sacrificed their dignity. Get off Facebook and if you want to tell someone something, pick up the phone.

@lolagirl - "Get off Facebook and if you want to tell someone something, pick up the phone."

I couldn't agree more. But as I've discovered that's not a popular option. I left Facebook completely a few years ago and haven't returned. I've discovered most people I knew have forgotten there are other forms of communication, be it phone calls, text messages, emails, etc.

I think not only does facebook make you lose tone, text messaging does the same thing. I use all types of social media on a daily basis and I like the convienience of it but I some think it actually makes people more distant. Instead of thinking about how a friend is doing and calling them up for coffee we just check their facebook or twitter accounts. Or we find out things like your best friend, sister, whomever is pregnant via some social networking site. This is something that should be shared personally, I believe. I know it is easier and faster than calling everyone up individually but thats my point... why are we marketing ourselves to a group of people we call "friends" when we could have real friends in the real world. I work with technology so I know these sites aren't going anywhere anytime soon, or ever for that matter. But I do see some negativities that comes along with participating in them.

I recently changed to my maiden name on FB, to prevent anyone stalking my husband from finding me. Then immediately realized some people would start asking if I was getting divorced. You really can't win. So I'm considering letting my personal page go dormant.

I've been thinking a lot about this question lately. Recently I've read several posts that were challenging and controversial. I was so tempted to join in the conversation but I didn't feel comfortable having a debate on a public forum where all my comments are documented and stored.

I have read a number of comments along the lines of "It's my facebook page, I can write whatever I want on it". Which is true, but people seem to be forgetting that while it may be their page everything they say is read by hundreds of people. When those people read something they disagree with or find offensive, it's only natural that they are going to respond negatively.

I try to be careful about what I post to facebook. I try to keep things light, positive, and of course post lots of cute cat pictures.

@StudioStarter - couldn't agree more re controversial posts and topics. With so many social issues being discussed in the public sphere, people also feel the need to share and comment on them through social media. It is all well and good until you see a post supporting (or opposing) a position that you strongly believe in (for or against). In the interest of friendship I would just rather hide the comment instead of jumping in. Cute cat pictures are always good, though!

Now I think twice before posting a social commentary online. I've had 'friendly' debates with people in the past and it has indeed strained a friendship that I thought was fine regardless. I thought wrong :(

I have a friend who posts lots of cute picture, Christian posters and far too many political opinion images. Others post the proverbial lunch, what cool everyday thing they did, etc. Frankly, it's tiring. While they may be important to the poster, so much that is posted is trivial, mundane and meaningful only to the poster. Just because it can be said, doesn't mean it should or must be said.

I find those that post occasionally usually have meaningful things to say, share and report. Like how one friend's stem-cell treatment is going, birth of a new son, lead part in a play. Things that are personal, but would be difficult to send to friends individually. They make the reading all more meaningful and engaging.

Guilty as charged! I am a Facebook over-sharer. I only have about 80 friends on Facebook, all of whom I know fairly intimately. I don't add people who I don't want to share with so I think the problem solves it's self. My friends and I joined Facebook for the same reason- we live far apart and want to share our lives with each other. So, yeah. If someone has a heavy period and needs a home remedy-we talk about it. If someone wants to vent or needs advice about work, sex, family, relationships, home births, politics, divorces-we talk about it. I have to censor myself at work and often around my family so I refuse to "watch what I say" on Facebook.

I find FB sometimes gives me social anxiety, because there are all these different "worlds colliding" - family, different groups of friends, people I know professionally, etc. I learned the hard way a few years ago to keep my political views to myself. Now, I basically only post things that are lighthearted and/or related to the arts. Also, I've never aired my dirty laundry in public, and it floors me that some people think nothing of doing so on FB. (I could also do without the frequency of placenta/poopy diaper pics, which are just gross.)

I find FB sometimes gives me social anxiety, because there are all these different "worlds colliding" - family, different groups of friends, people I know professionally, etc. I learned the hard way a few years ago to keep my political views to myself. Now, I basically only post things that are lighthearted and/or related to the arts. Also, I've never aired my dirty laundry in public, and it floors me that some people think nothing of doing so on FB. (I could also do without the frequency of placenta/poopy diaper pics, which are just gross.)

"Get off Facebook and if you want to tell someone something, pick up the phone."

Agreeing here too. Never had a fb account, never will. I find it cold and impersonal and, quite frankly, often downright sad. The dh is constantly showing me something on his account and it requires extreme self-control on my part just to be polite. Honestly, I fear his brain will soon turn to mush...so much drivel and nonsense. I do get lots of complaints from family & friends but my reply is always the same...I prefer IRL relationships and fb can never replace those.

When we flew out to visit dd&sil+3 for a week last summer, I warned dd that if I saw my house advertised as unoccupied on fb, I would be cancelling our trip & SHE could explain to my babies why.

Yeah, I wish I could not have a FB, but in the age of needing to network to get work (I am a musician and a freelance renovator), it's not realistic.

Tip: If you hide a friend's post on your news feed, you will get an option to "Change what updates you get from [Person's Name]". (After you have messed with it you can un-hide the post if you like.) You can then customize what updates you see--if you set it to "only important", that will pretty much eliminate the constant stream of over-sharing, or at least get it to a more manageable level. That way your over-sharing friend can still enjoy using facebook the way he or she wants, and you can enjoy facebook the way you want.

The trouble with facebook is not that subtlety and contextual signals are completely impossible in online communication. It's just that a lot of people are not very good at it, and the format of facebook does not really encourage newcomers to get good at it if all their friends are posting at the same level.

I found out my sister-in-law left my brother on Facebook (from her, she was so proud of it). Two years later, I found out he remarried on Facebook (his live-in changed her name). No, I'm not kidding.

I deactivated my FB account two weeks ago...best move ever.

There was a time you could be friends with someone for years and years, and never know many of their personal convictions. It wouldn't come up at the bar if they were (just random example) pro-life, or an atheist, or for stricter immigration laws. I think that for me, the hardest thing has been discovering certain opinions that my friends harbor, and the sometimes militant way they decide to express them.

One of my biggest pet peeves are the people who brag about how much weight they've lost, how healthy they eat and how often they visit the gym on Facebook. I visit the gym almost daily too but it's not posted because I'm certain most people don't care. During the election season I found myself unsubscribing from lots of friends as well to prevent some of the nasty things they were saying about President Obama from showing up in my news feed. I wanted to ensure we were still friends in person after the election was over.

Never got a facebook account, likely never will. I do face-to-face contact with occasional phone calls (usually to arrange outings), check on various blogs and exchange email conversations with absent friends. Please, DON'T pick up the phone every time you want to "share". I have one "friend" who does this, then rants and raves about how miserable her life is for almost an hour, usually just as I'm almost asleep. She doesn't want a conversation, just an audience. I'm tempted to tell her to post it on facebook!

Ultrasound pictures aren't over sharing if you just post a good side shot. Posting baby's junk is never cool, though. People get so uppity about parent posts, but a lot of times that's how we communicate the best way with friends and family scattered all across the country. That said, poop and placenta should never ever be posted online. I keep hearing so much about this kind of behavior. I'm just glad no one we know does that. Yuck.

Also, I haven't touched my fb in a long long time. Had one for a while, got reported as an imposter by some anonymous party, did without for two years, made a new one and quit it in two months. Facebook is boring and if we need to share pics we do so through my husband's account.

I agree with everything everybody above said! I think one thing that has helped me is I only allow real friends on my FB - I don't let work colleagues on there, and I don't let acquaintances on there.

What astonished me recently is that during election season, I had to hide a bunch of my friends who are on my side, politically. I found a lot of their posts rude and offensive to anyone who didn't agree with them. (I'm sure this happened on the other side, too). And that made me like them less. It's still a free country, and just because someone has opposing views (unless they're racist, etc), doesn't make them a bad person. I got so tired of it, I hid all those people and actually don't think I'll unhide them. What's astounding is, a lot of them are entrepreneurs, artists, musicians, etc., who have a TON of people reading their posts, including potential clients. Aren't they afraid of turning off these people, and impacting their business?

I used to get the Facebook free-for-all when it was all college students posting about partying (aka the good old days). Now, though, I hardly post anything because my co-workers, my pastor, my 93 year old grandfather, etc will see it. I also don't put pictures of my baby on Facebook. Everyone thinks I'm crazy, but she doesn't have any say on what is posted, and I don't want her to be embarassed if those pictures stick around (not that I would post any potty pictures...or take any for that matter). I also can't stand the constant complaint statuses. The people who never post anything positive and go on and on and on about how horrible their lives are. The occasional post about having a bad day is fine, but you can definitely complain too much.

In the last year, I think I've posted maybe two personal status updates, everything else has been shout outs about cultural events or links to articles and such. No pictures, I have my setting such that I have to approve anything I'm tagged in. It's just too annoying. Social media was so much more fun before my parents/aunts/everyone from high school/etc was involved. I miss myspace. I even miss friendster!

That being said, I have a blog sooooo...

MelTown - Yes!!! The constant complainers!! I have a relative who posts scathing commentaries about everyone he meets (coworkers, bosses, people on the bus, etc) - and has no compunction about pointing out that he's smarter, more organized, better dressed, etc. than them. It's embarassing!

And what's funny is, his sister does it, too! I had to hide both of them from my feed. They've actually proven that complaining like that on FB doesn't garner sympathy from your friends - in fact, it has the exact opposite effect.

I was just lamenting to my husband about that the other day. Unless you are on FB, everyone I know no longer even texts or emails. I even had a friend say such a thing to me!! I find it frustrating because I cannot always go on Facebook to check their status or photos and I do not even post all the time. I feel a bizarre amount of self imposed pressure to go on to stay connected. Technology, the more we have it the more isolated we have all become.

Warning: nasty content ahead

One friend posted a photo of her 3-year old son standing on a dining chair, naked from the waist down, with diarrhea streaming down his legs. The gist of the caption was how difficult is her life. I felt awful for her son. To my pleasure and surprise, almost every commenter told her the photo was inappropriate. She left it there, but the public chiding gave me hope.

I have been wanting to get off FB, my hubby wants me to as he hates the site, but I fear I will no longer hear from anyone because they only communicate via Facebook. I sound sad, but it is true and it is disheartening that no one thinks enough of anyone anyomre to call, email, text, anything but FB. C'est la vie I guess.
My least favorite experience was the post two high school pals had on one's wall about how bored she was with her life and her kids and her hubby. Dude, 250 people, some who know you, some who do not, now know something that should have been in a private message. I also have seen some serious wall brawls between people and quite frankly it proves that social skills are seriously lacking in today's society. You are entitled to your opinions, you are not entitled to TYPE THEM OUT IN ALL CAPITALS ALL THE TIME> LOL

Every time I think about posting a facebook status, I ask myself if there is a single person this communication should be directed towards, instead of broadcasting it to everyone. For example, this weekend after running a long run as part of a training plan for a half marathon, instead of posting on my wall, bragging about the run and tagging my friend who is also training, I directly texted my fellow training friend and told her how awesome the run was. We had a nice text message exchange, and that was that. No need for the whole world to know what I'm up to.

I like to use facebook as an online photo book of family and friend outings and events, but 90% of the statuses people post are unnecessary TMI, whether it's something raunchy or something pedestrian and repetitive.

I know I posted already that I wish I didn't have to have a FB, but I just wanted to add that it does make a useful tool. It's great for organizing/coordinating events, or promoting them. It's fantastic for sharing digital photos, as opposed to e-mailing them to people individually. It makes a wonderful information-sharing tool, i.e.: articles, videos, etc. And it really IS a great networking tool - I can't tell you how many paying gigs I've gotten because I have a FB.

I think where the criticism goes wrong is when it blames the tool itself, much the same way people blame the internet for things, rather than the way people use it. Some people just have no filters, IRL or online. :/ (One of my friends advises never saying the first three things that come into your head!)

At least on FB, people can't hide behind anonymity like they do in other places online. It sticks with you forever, and if you are stupid enough to post something racist or to upload pictures of yourself snorting cocaine or whatever, it will stick with you forever.

Like it will stick with me forever that I just completely repeated myself unnecessarily!

I cancelled my FB account one day, 5 years ago, after I could not remember my password. Before I reset it, I thought about how FB affected my life, and I decided that it caused me more anxiety and stress than anything else. So, I reset my password, and cancelled my account. I have never regretted it, or looked back. Life is SO much more simple now!

My sister, on the other hand, is 34, single, lives at home with our parents, has nearly 1000 "friends," and is a chronic over-sharer. She is one of the people who posts cryptic messages just to get attention. She posts health information about our parents – who are private people and do not even KNOW more than 5 of her "friends" –especially our mom, who has undergone multiple procedures this year – which she exploits for personal gain. They have repeatedly asked her not to, and she just can't (won't?) stop. I get texts and calls from mutual friends, relatives and acquaintances with messages and questions regarding things she has posted, which is how I even find out about it!

My cousin is worse. She is 33 and FB is like an extension of her brain. She posts every piddly thing she does, "going to the gym," "at XXX restaurant," "at the mall," etc. She is single, also lives at home with her parents, and posts 400 pictures of her pug every day. And all the exciting things she is posting about, trying to make her life seen exciting (to her ex, who left her at the altar)? She is doing them WITH HER MOM, although she never posts about THAT, everyone knows it.

Facebook: devil in disguise.

A former colleague (who I am still friends with) has an obsession with talking about sex and all things physically intimate online (and everywhere else). Her Facebook profile picture is nude photo of herself, and she daily posts all sorts of things that are always far better left unsaid. She is married and has two children; she mentions things about her young sons all the time, but (mercifully) leaves the private details about her husband out. I think she's got some mental health issues, but that's not an excuse for radical "over-sharing".

The muting feature on Facebook is the best. It is like tying up and gagging someone that you can't bring yourself to remove - family, people you run into regularly, etc.