Are there set, everyone should abide by them no matter who they are or what they do, social media rules? Or does the way you utilize and approach social media depend on, and change with, who you are?

This is what I’ve been mulling around in my head lately, as I’ve caught myself reacting either positively or negatively (depending on the circumstance and person) to how other people use social media. And I think I’ve come to a conclusion. It’s a conclusion I’ve had all along, but it’s just that now I have experiences and more developed opinions to back it up with.

And if you think I’m going to tell you what that conclusion is at the beginning of this post, you’re just silly. Read on, my friend. Read on.

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So, I did it. I created a Facebook Fan Page and have started using that. I cleaned house on my personal profile and made the whole thing completely private for friends and family only.

I wrote in a recent newsletter that I’d continue using my profile, with friend lists and special settings, until the time came that it doesn’t work for me anymore. That’s kind of my motto about a lot of things – do what you do, use what you use, until it doesn’t work for you anymore.

And when I forget to make pictures of my niece private, or when family members say they’ve stopped posting stuff on my wall because they’re afraid of how it’ll affect my business presence and brand (how sweet are they, watching out for me), then using my Facebook profile just doesn’t work for me anymore.

It became too much to manage. I had to dissect every friend request and make sure they were in the proper group. I had to make sure every status update was protected, if it was personal. Just…ugh. I’m over it. But the push over the edge was really everything in the paragraph above.

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