The first and most important rule of social media: Post about others as you would have others post about yourself. It’s like your mother always told you, the “Golden Rule” is one to abide by.
Refrain from posting photos of friends and family that could be embarrassing. You know how bad it feels when your mom or best friend shares some hideous picture of you from the seventh grade, it sucks. So when you’re debating about whether or not to press send on your big sister’s least favorite picture of herself, decide against it. I know it would probably be hilarious, but you wouldn’t laugh so hard if it was a photo of you. It’s best to just keep that photo for some private laughs.

Don’t be mean. You’ve heard about “cyberbullying”. You know how detrimental it can be. Cyberbullying has had a negative impact on the lives of hundreds of teenagers, and has even pushed some to suicide. Regardless of how you feel about someone, you should never take to the internet to vent or argue. If you feel like social media is your only outlet, and you abdolutely have to post something, be extremely careful when wording what you say. Don’t send anything you wouldn’t say in person. It’s cowardly to attack, tease, and harass someone from behind a screen.

Tweeting people’s secrets is not okay. If someone trusts you enough to share something personal with you, you should keep it to yourself. Don’t post something that would leave them feeling uncomfortable or exposed. You shouldn’t share someone’s secrets out of spite or just for a laugh. You shouldn’t even do it if they tell one of your secrets. “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind”. “Two wrongs don’t make a right.” Just think of more things your mother would say. It’s never okay, regardless of whatever reason you come up with to try to justify the act.

On the topic of “exposing,” when online, away from all naked photos. I know they’re extremely popular among teens now, especially since hundreds of nude pictures of celebrities were stolen from iCloud this year and released onto the internet. Jennifer Lawrence, Vanessa Hudgens and Jill Scott were just a few of the women violated and exposed. Teenage girls saw the attention and excitement around the pictures and a few of them felt compelled to take and send photos of their own, without recognizing the dangers of doing so. Don’t take them, don’t post them, don’t retweet them, favorite them or like them. No good comes from being involved with any of that. If another teenager sends you a naked picture, delete it. Please do not post it. Today it seems to be common for high school students to share these kinds of photos without permission and “expose” their peers. If you do, then not only are you a jerk, but, you are also a distributor of child pornography. You can get into trouble at home, school, and with the law. On top of those consequences, there can also be a great emotional toll on the subject of these photos. Many are harassed at school, embarrassed online, and slip into depression shortly after they are exposed. When you consider all of the bad that can come from posting nude pictures, it’s easy to see why you should avoid them. They’re not worth all of the damage done.

What Would Jaylin Do? Listen to more advice from mothers everywhere. If I have nothing nice to post about someone, I won’t post anything at all.