When I was at university nobody I knew had a cell phone so nothing I did at parties on Saturday nights ended up on Facebook - not that Facebook had been invented then.

Today everyone has a camera and access to social networking and the media is rife with stories about people behaving badly on Facebook. Some people get sacked, others never get hired and some get divorced because they share everything they do – without candor – online. 

Maybe I’m just boring or maybe I’m old-fashioned but it’s not Facebook that’s the problem people, it’s you.  The online social media scandal issue can be distilled down to three words: 

1.Decorum

2.Smarts

3.Ego.

Decorum: Good old fashioned manners; the kind of behaviour that ensures your grandmother still enjoys your company. Practice it online. 

Pause and give it a second thought before you update your status. Consider how wide your network of friends (and their friends) that will all see your update is and act appropriately. You don’t need to behave like you’re in a Jane Austin novel, just try and behave in a manner befitting a civilised human. 

That means keeping rants, fights, venting about your horrible day and nasty comments offline. 

Smarts: If you don’t know what your Facebook profile looks like to people who aren’t your friends, you should. The privacy settings on Facebook especially are really good – if you take the time to use them. 

One night when you’re home alone, take the time to sort your friends into lists, then give each list its own privacy setting – it gives you more control of who sees what while still being friends with a wide range of people. In fact, that’s just what I did in my hotel room last time I went on a business trip.

This article is a good starting point for Facebook privacy. Just be aware that Facebook has updated some functions since this was written but it’s great for a lesson on lists and privacy. 

Ego: If we’re really honest, most inappropriate social networking updates are about ego. Photos of you and the toilet bowl on Saturday night don’t show you’re a hard case that loves a party.  And that moan about your bad day and your horrible boss doesn’t really need to go online. 

It’s great to share content with friends but I’d bet that in most of these cases these types of updates are all just a call for attention – for your friends to understand your pain, ‘like’ your status or comment back to you and make you feel better. And it’s the kind of stuff that’s better left offline.

Facebook should be fun, for keeping in touch with friends, clients and fans new and old and something you drop in and out regularly. I think when it becomes your reason for being or a place where you lose your sense of self, or your perspective about what’s reasonable and acceptable behaviour then you need a Facebook detox.

Then again, maybe I’m just too boring to warrant a scandal?