The Dos And Don'ts Of Social Media

Behold! It's the ultimate Dos and Don'ts of social media, illustrated with mostly made-up posts from BBC Radio 1 DJs!

1. DON'T Feel the need to follow the crowd

Ice bucket challenges, no-make-up selfies, smeared make-up selfies, show us your first Facebook picture.... The list goes on and on. If you get 'nominated' for something on social media, it is not a binding legal contract. If you don't want to get involved, that's absolutely fine.

2. DO Remember that life on social media can be very different to reality

While it might look like everyone online is having a great time, all the time... a snapshot of a moment won't usually tell the full story, and the image you get may be quite far removed from the reality. Don't let social media make you feel bad about yourself or that you're missing out. You're far too busy having actual fun to stop and post about it!

*We made this one up. But crowd surfing may indeed result in you getting thrown out of the club.

3. DON'T Go having a rant!

If someone has left you a bit cheesed off, it might be tempting to go off on a subtweet Twitter rant or do a passive-aggressive "you know who you are" Facebook status, but believe us, this is NEVER a good idea!

Instead, moan to a mate, write it all down, turn your hurt into art... just keep it offline. Once you calm down, you may end up full of regrets and looking like a bit of an idiot!

*Chris would never do a Twitter rant, so we made that one up as well.

4. DO Keep your privates private!

So you've been hitting the gym, you're looking great and you're tempted to show off your bikini body in a private pic to a mate... But would you be OK if that picture fell into the wrong hands? While your motives might be innocent, once your picture is out there, it could be tricky to get it back!

Even over private message or Snapchat, posts can be saved, kept and shared forever. So put your camera down and save that beautiful bod for the physical world.

*This is a real picture of Matt. We're sorry...

5. DON'T Go oversharing!

We're all guilty of this one, whether it's the very intimate details of your latest beauty regime, several versions of a really nice view/cake/face or LOTS of re-tweeting (we're looking at you Charlie Sloth!)

No matter what form over-sharing takes, it affects us all, and you don't want folk to press that mute/hide or delete button. Let's all take a moment before posting a status and think... Do all of my online pals really need to know about this? Do I want my food to get cold while I'm photographing it? Does anyone actually care?

*As much as we would love it if this was a real Scott status, it's not.

6. DO Create a positive footprint

Everyone is always banging on about negative behaviour online, but so many people use the Internet for good, and we like that! Use your time online to get creative; write a blog, create a video showcase of your talents or make the world a better place and raise some money for charity (extra points if you can get adorable kids to help you spread your message!)

7. DON'T Send your mates millions of game requests

If we want to play a game, we will. But we probably won't. So leave us be, Dev !!

8. DO Think "Would I want my boss to see that?"

So you might not be friends with your boss on social media, but that doesn't mean they can't see what you've posted - most sites are public places, after all! So make sure your privacy settings are geared up to the max if you're planning on talking about throwing a sickie, being drunk on the job or slagging off a colleague! In fact... probably just don't post that sort of thing at all.

*We do not endorse any of the above behavior, and neither does Chris, so we mocked this one up.

9. DO Have fun!

The Internet is an amazing, fun, creative place. Just think before you post and you'll have a grand old time!