Let’s face it, in the real world you know whom you want to hang out with and whom you would prefer would just go away.  Social media has tools to help you sort through how much you want to be engaged with someone or those you’d prefer to keep at arm’s length.

This is the Third Part of the “How to Unfollow or Unfriend people on your feed without feeling guilty about it” series:

Unfollow:

We all probably have someone in our family who will turn everything into a political debate about up and coming elections.  That said, a family member is not exactly some friend or a friend of a friend, they are family and should be given the benefit of the doubt regarding their comments.

You should have a heart-to-heart, face-to-face conversation with them.  If all else fails, keep in mind that elections come and go and hopefully they will eventually calm down and get back to acting like family instead of a political guru!

Unfriend:

Social media should be an uplifting experience that inspires you.  It can be a little tempting to “hate follow” someone whether a political figure, a celebrity or a past classmate you never got along with anyway.

These people can actually cause you a lot of problems. If someone is taking up too much of your space or you are spending too much time going to their page, it’s time to move on and just unfriend them.  Get out of the obsession!

Don’t Be Mean To Yourself:

There are many people who will not unfriend or unfollow others in fear of hurting their feelings, keep in mind, nine out of ten won’t even know it!  These tools do not notify people to their status such as unfollowed or unfriended!

Most people on social media have so many other people following them or they are following, they will not notice.  Understand, just because you unfriend someone doesn’t mean you dislike them, you are just setting up your boundaries on social media to make things more enjoyable for you,

How About The Block Tool?

This tool is used for serious situations on social media.  There are, unfortunately, people who use social media to stalk people, harass other people, intimidate, hurt, manipulate, and coerce people. If you fall into one of these issues and your instincts are saying you are not safe, you should use this tool.

This tool will unfriend that person but also prevent them from sending messages to you and will not allow them to see your profile.  Keep in mind, you can “report” someone using the Facebook or Instagram feature if someone is breaking the rules and regulations on these sites.

Also, if really serious, you should contact the police. This is important if the person doing this is someone you know in the real world.  Blocking people that are trying to cause an unsafe, dangerous situation is highly recommended.  In turn, make sure you never do the same to someone else.

Social media is hotter than ever! People flock to these sites to share pictures, stories, great videos, and just about everything else in between. What many might know, these sites can have an impact on your real-life and you should pay close attention to what is showing up your page.

This is the Second Part of the “How to Unfollow or Unfriend people on your feed without feeling guilty about it” series:

Unfriend:

How about your recent breakup with your ex?  There are people that do break up and still remain friends but those people are the exceptions.  Unfortunately, most breakups do not end well and both parties should go their own way.

Staying friends with your ex on social media can lead to even more headaches and make the situation even worse by showing you everything they are saying about you and whether they are actually moving on or not.

If you want to stay in a relationship with your ex in the real world you can have quality time but don’t use your digital platform. When you spend more time in the real world with those you care about you can use your time online to build better relationships with those you have on social media.

Unfollow:

So, your college roommate thinks posting pictures on a daily basis of his or her new baby, is stretching it a bit.

Although there are millions of people who enjoy seeing pictures of babies, pets, etc., it’s a little difficult to keep up with incredible joy when the parent is posting every single movement baby makes from walking through their home in the nude or covering their faces with their food during feeding time.

This can become annoying even if they don’t believe they are doing anything wrong. If these photos can be kept at bay, sooner or later she or he will get out of this phase at some point.  Once over this phase, you can always decide to follow them again.  Unfollowing will simply give you a much-needed break.

Unfriend:

Ok, so you have a friend who is always in super shape, is successful with everything they pursue in life, and leave you feeling totally inadequate.  You need to stop viewing pictures of their yacht in Maui.

Keep in mind, many pictures you see on social media are either fake or touched up and nothing more.  It might be time to just unfriend them for your own self-esteem.

Unfollow:

Ok, you might think it’s a little over the top to unfriend mom but there are other alternatives. Social media shows all posts from friends to their activities along with what they like, commented on, or purchased.

Over time, this will bog down your feed with unnecessary stuff, especially those who like to comment on absolutely everything they run across. Unfollowing some of the traffic will allow you to keep a good relationship with your mom!  You can then take your time reading her comments when you have the time and no feelings have been harmed.

Unfriend:

There’s always that friend that just cannot resist turning every single conversation into something political.  As of late, you can’t even turn on your news without listening to foul-mouthed people spurting off their hatred for those who don’t agree with them.

The tools offered on social media will help you set boundaries of what’s acceptable and what is not.  Unfriending some of these people will give you peace of mind and allow you to remain sane!  No one wants to be publicly humiliated on social media.  Also, ensure you are not a culprit of making social media mistakes that can damage your reputation.

Come visit us again for part 3!

There is a fine line between friends and enemies you have accumulated on your social media accounts. If you are dealing with people on social media you want to get out of your hair, we are going to help you sift through your feed and not feel guilty about it.

This is Part One of the “How to Unfollow or Unfriend people on your feed without feeling guilty about it” series:

Social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and other sites are about relationships and about sharing information, according to Diane Gottsman author of Modern Etiquette for a Better Life and found of The Protocol School of Texas.

When everything goes well, social media sites are great for connecting with like-minded people, building good relationships, connecting with your friends in the real world, building followers interested in your business and other businesses like yours.

That said, anyone who has spent any time on these sites knows there is always a good chance things can go wrong by bringing people in that are nothing but huge headaches. You could have a friend who is a racist, will start an argument with others, someone at work that has an ax to grind or are on the other side of the aisle when it comes to their political views.

What was once just a fun place to hang out has now turned into a nightmare.  But, before throwing up your arms and abandoning social media, you should know about some tools that are at your disposal to clean up your site and your feed.

Unfriending Or Unfollowing People:

According to Gottsman, you should think of unfollowing someone on Facebook as taking a mini-vacation from them while unfriending is literally breaking away from the relationship.  When talking about Instagram, their set up is just a little different.  Hitting “Mute” is related to unfollowing and unfollowing is like unfriending.

Know When You Should Unfriend Vs Unfollow Someone On Social Media:

You should know how to use these tools even if you know the difference between unfollowing and unfriending someone.  We will provide you with some situations so you can follow our advice, using good etiquette, to handle some people on your social media.

Unfriend:

Here’s the scenario, you have a neighbor who throws parties for her products she’s selling online as well as offline. She is constantly hounding you to throw a party to help her make sales.

Social media has been a great place for people in marketing to show their wares and expand their down-lines,  It doesn’t matter if you are selling makeup, diet pills, clothing, essential oils, pet products or any other product out there, the bottom line, they are only there to help themselves.

These so-called friends on your site are using you to help them make more money and see to it that you follow them to the end of the sale.

If you are like-minded and want their products, that’s fine but if it’s becoming a nightmare because they are overwhelming you with their demands, you really need to unfriend them!  If your neighbor is a really good friend, sit down with them and let them know how this is making you feel and they are overloading you with demands you cannot meet.

Let them know if they continue to harass you, you will have to unfriend them.  Understand, we all have lines that if crossed are non-acceptable and causing problems.  If they are really a good friend, they will respect how you feel about this situation.

Unfollow:

It’s not a good idea to have your social media attached to your professional life.  Even if your boss is a great person, having them as a friend or follower on your social media can lead to complications.

Gottsman thinks that LinkedIn is the best site for adding and maintaining business connections.  Keep in mind, if you are already friends with someone, it could lead to problems within your business relationship, especially if you decide to unfriend them!

You could unfollow them instead, staying somewhere in the middle without totally offending them. Another avenue set a filter to not allow certain posts to show such as your recent vacation to Barbados or the neighborhood party you threw last weekend. This filter will prevent your boss from seeing them!

If you want to have people you work with, you should first check what your social media profile is saying about you.

Tune in for part 2!