This topic has been on my mind over the past week or so as I add more and more friends to my Facebook profile. I have always seen drama occurring on social networks such as Facebook that could have easily be avoided and I have accidentally gotten involved in Facebook drama myself over the years.

At first, I shake my head and say something like "What were they thinking?" – but then I realized, maybe the reason it happened to them was because, well, not many people realize the dangers of internet based communications when it comes to relationships.

One of my favorite classes in college was Social Informatics, where we took a social look on technologies and how they affected both relationships and society. I applied a few of these concepts to the social networking medium to come up with a list of 5 things people should try to avoid when managing personal relationships and your social network profile.

1. Take A Social Inventory

First and foremost, it is never a good idea to invite anyone and everyone to your social network without taking a personal inventory of the type of information you share. For example, if you use Facebook as a way to connect with your friends, is it always a good idea to share the things you say to your friends (or your friends say to others) with your family? 

Many people adopt social networks as a way of venting their frustrations and feelings to others on a non-biased medium. Sometimes things you don't really mean can be said to get something off of your chest and inadvertently cause problems with others who misinterpret it.

2. Know Your Audience

If you are connecting with only a few friends or a hundred of them – it is always good to know how what you will say will affect them as a whole. This is an aged old concept known as empathy. When you take into consideration the feelings of others before speaking, it always makes a difference in how they interpret it.

If you have a friend or family member who always misinterprets things you say, it is probably a good idea to block that person from your Facebook stream without unfriending them all together – as it is not the proper medium to communicate with them over. Those people do not have a full understanding of the purpose of social networks – which is often to communicate feelings or thoughts on an open platform. If they cannot handle you being yourself, then they shouldn't be there to see it.

There are great methods implemented by Facebook to share your Facebook stream only with certain people on your friends list.

3. Know You're Breadth of Control

There are many tools and settings that can be customized and configured for Facebook that will protect you and your friends from drama. You should stop to learn how to use these tools. Sometimes it may be appropriate not to unfriend someone, but to block them. Other times it may be appropriate to block or report them if they are being inappropriate.

For example, you can learn how to control what your friends can say or share about you with other people (see number 5) or even block and report Facebook stalkers who have made you feel uncomfortable with something they said. As stated above, you also have complete control over who does or does not see your Facebook feed.

4. Have A Problem? Pick Up The Phone And Call

This is probably one of the most difficult for people to manage and is often the cause of most fights between individuals over social networks such as Facebook. It is when something happens between two people and instead of talking it out with one another, they get their entire social network involved in the conflict.

Remember the old principle of working things out behind closed doors? This concept is especially true when it comes to social networks. Think about it in this context, if you were at a party and fighting with someone, would you go to the most crowded part of the party and start arguing with them in front of everyone? What's going to happen is everyone is going to jump to the other individuals defense and it will actually create an entire stigma between the entire circle of friends.

This happens all the time on Facebook, as soon as you see it start to happen, delete anything you said that was hurtful, pick up the phone and talk it out with that other individual on a personal basis. Don't forget to apologize for using Facebook to hurt the other individual.

5. Be Aware Of Sarcasm and Misinterpretations

There are certain jokes and statements that are easily mis-interpreted in the written word. Sarcasm especially. I could say "My wife is a complete dork" and she could come back later and say "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING ME A DORK FOR?!" – then I could say, "Well, I was being sarcastic…" But how was she to know I was being sarcastic if it was in writing?

That was a poorly written example but it illustrates an important point. If you are being sarcastic, and you think people may mis-interpret the sarcasm, sometimes I will place something at the end of my statement that lets people know it is a joke such as… j/k or *sarcasm*. This typically prevents mis-interpretations that can start arguments.

Conclusion:

By taking a bit of extra time with your social network you can probably prevent and help prevent alot of drama that can occur using social networks. Social networking is a great technology that can be used to keep in touch with old friends and family, but as with any technology, when it gets mis-managed you can run into some major issues with it.

What is the worst drama that has occurred with you on Facebook?