Wonder what a Facebook friend is thinking when you post something about how much you love your boyfriend, or how great your last vacation was? Probably not anything good.
Eighty-five percent of women report feeling annoyed by their online friends, according to a new survey from, Eversave, a daily deal site.
The company surveyed 400 women and found that females have little tolerance for friends who use Facebook to overshare about the mundane details about their life you probably wouldn’t even find interesting in real life.
The survey found these three behaviors to be the top three most annoying things you can do on Facebook:
- Complaining all the time (63 percent)
- Sharing unsolicited political views (42 percent)
- Bragging about seemingly perfect lives (32 percent)
Not only may your friends be annoyed with you on Facebook, but they could be putting you in an unsavory social media category. The survey asked the women if they were friends with any of some specified online personalities and they found:
- 65 percent are friends with someone they’d call a documentarian—someone who updates their status every time they use the bathroom.
- 61 percent are friends with at least one drama queen —someone who turns everything into a crisis
- 57 percent are friends with at least one woman that snaps a photo every time her baby drools. Which is to say, often
- 46 percent say they are friends with someone they’d describe as an incessant liker.
- 40 percent are friends with an armchair activist
- 40 percent are friends with someone they’d describe as a poser, a person who projects this picture-perfect life on Facebook, whether it’s true or not
“The ironic issue is that many women may not even know they are being classified or thought of that way by their Facebook friends,” said Charlene DeLoach Oliver, JD, CISR, in the press release accompanying the study. “Most people regard social media, like Facebook, as a place to gripe or boast because they often can’t do it in real life.”
But the survey wasn’t all gloomy. Researchers found that 91 percent of the women said they appreciate Facebook for allowing them to view friends’ photos and videos, and 76 percent said the social media site helped them keep in touch with long-lost friends.
What type of contact annoys you most on Facebook?
I am not a woman so perhaps my comments are irrelevant.
While it can be annoying at times when someone shares too much about their baby or other things going on.
I find it fascinating to see how open some people are and how willing they can be to share soo much.
I'm not as open or social as others, and feel like I am learning to be a little more social which is probably a good thing!
Comment by T'gus — March 30, 2011 @ 10:51 am
The posers are definitely the most annoying. I don't mind people bragging about their vacation, but people projecting a picture perfect life when I know that's not the case is super annoying.
Comment by Exmoor — March 30, 2011 @ 12:32 pm
I don't see it listed, but I've grown very weary lately of a certain "charity hound" on my list. She's a great person and nice, but today she's starting to leave passive aggressive comments to those who don't answer her "calls to donate" event pages. I hate those and she sends them ALL the time. That's bad enough, but to now act like everyone is OBLIGATED to support her NUMEROUS charitable causes? Sorry, I don't have NEARLY enough cash for how many she sends around.
And another friend is the constant angry complainer. I put up with it for a while but almost unfriended her recently when she ranted on someone else's status about OTHER people complaining about a benign topic. Basically, she was scolding us. (The whole "be grateful" lecture.) But then one day later on her own page, she was back to angrily griping about stupid crap herself. Hypocrite!
Comment by Alley — March 30, 2011 @ 3:07 pm
I strongly dislike the fact that the survey was focused on women. It just supports the stereotypes of women beng passive aggressive and catty. I think one thing said here is very true of men and women: we have np idea when we are being annoying online until someone tosses an insult at us, which for better or worse, is rare and easy to end with an unfriending. The like button can actually egg someone on more than they would be egged on irl. I am a documentarian for that very reason! I hardly ever get to tell my stories irl, but on FB I can talk without being interrupted. And even feel liked.
Comment by Sue — March 30, 2011 @ 4:59 pm
share it all
Comment by hello — March 30, 2011 @ 6:31 pm
Woder how many will share this.
: )
Comment by CoH — March 31, 2011 @ 11:12 am
That's what the "hide all posts by" button is for… annoying posters who you don't want to de-friend. If someone is annoying I just hide their posts, and then check their wall periodically to see what they're up to and if they warrant continued hiding.
Comment by grooch — March 31, 2011 @ 11:51 am
Perhaps the percentage for men was much lower. Hence the focus on women.
Comment by The Dude — March 31, 2011 @ 12:33 pm
………………i have never(never!) signed up on facebook, myspace, or any other social internet network. came across this on yahoo "news". it is these types of "news stories"about social networking that always produce a meaty grin………………………ha…………………….
Comment by john doe — March 31, 2011 @ 3:09 pm
Thats when you take a snapshot of Miss Complainers lecturing vs. what she does on her own wall and you submit it to failblog. As for charity hound, just pm her and ask her to a) stop soliciting you for the cause and to b) consider that her guilt-tripping is alienating people who would otherwise like to remain friends with her, but may choose to unfriend her, both on fb and irl, if she doesn't stop.
Comment by CheleBellieBean — March 31, 2011 @ 4:10 pm
Nice to know there are other people who get annoyed for the same reasons I do. Offline: mothers with babies do the same thing, which is okay for a little bit, but after a while, get tired of hearing: she burped! Drama Kings and Queens, likewise create drama offline; ditto complainers.
For some reason the perfect life people annoy me the most; maybe because they are so busy gloating, they do not have time to comment on other friends' posts. The worst are those who consistently demand I copy/paste the same old inane copy/paste messages.
Comment by alyce — March 31, 2011 @ 6:16 pm
Wow! A study that found the majority of women to be catty, who would've thought!
Comment by Tom — March 31, 2011 @ 6:32 pm
I would definitely participate in topic specific groups more (something I enjoy because I am conversing with people who share my viewpoint and therefore there will be no 'annoyance' factor on either end).
I would refrain from posting too many status updates unless there you have a bunch of friends who you know would be interested in responding to such an update.
Comment by Jon — April 1, 2011 @ 2:31 pm
Look up FB data statistics. Women use the site twice as much, upload millions of more photos than men and also comment more often on status updates. I am in Market research and unfortunately the data speaks for itself.
Ladies control yourselves!
Comment by @KaosRyule — April 1, 2011 @ 2:33 pm
The data here consists of 400 users of a coupon site. If you're in market research and you think this says something important, you really need to study "research" A LOT more.
Comment by Stanley — April 1, 2011 @ 9:00 pm
OMG! I think I'm going to be sick. This article makes me feel very queasy. Trying to figure out… If you did the same kind of study about non-facebook social interactions, would it be any different? 41% are annoyed by political views – but I know many who thrive on their political conversations on FB. Personally, I like baby pictures.
But I guess most of all, what makes me feel sick is to think of how many of my posts might fall into one of those categories and be annoying the crap out of someone 85%? 90%? 95%? 99%? — OMG! back to lurking for me
Comment by John — April 1, 2011 @ 10:57 pm
I completely agree! I had one friend who had some sort of breakdown. She was my best friend for a while, but then she got "mad at me" for not knowing that she was falling apart. Even though she posed all these perfect things on FB and when I called on the phone her family lied to me and said she was at the store or napping. Now we hardly talk. What the heck!?
Comment by Someone Else — April 2, 2011 @ 12:34 pm
I also can't stand "post hijackers". They're the ones who answer a post with a completely unrelated and inappropriate comment. For example, Post: "Hi everyone, does anyone know where I can find an appropriate dress for my daughter's Confirmation?" Answer by hijacker, after many appropriate posts: "Ron is in the hospital. Please pray from him."–and sometimes it contains extra info that is really awkward, like, "He's having anal corrective surgery."
Also I hate how some people comment on EVERY post. My sister is the worst for this. I have her blocked most of the time, her comments are usually unnecessary, and often a little strange.
Comment by Someone Else — April 2, 2011 @ 12:45 pm
Not mentioned in the article: these same 85% of women don't realize how annoying they are to their friends as well.
Comment by Jon B. — April 2, 2011 @ 1:16 pm
Well, it is true that I hide posts from people who
a) send lovey-dovey stuff to each other via their Walls for the whole world to see
Maybe if I was a more well-adjusted person, such displays of affection would not bother me. I mean, I am not sure my annoyance is justified or if it signifies a bitterness because I would very much like such displays of affection to be geared towards myself.
b) post excessive amounts of photos/links related to events that don't interest me. That, I am certain is justified.
c) may post something that will worry me (I am a jealous person) I am not sure if avoidance is a good strategy but I figure, if I am to learn something potentially upsetting about someone I am/was interested in, I would rather hear it in person rather than have to anxiously guess it from status updates. I don't think that's a healthy attitude, but it's better than getting a sinking feeling everytime I see some comment or wall post that 99% of the time doesn't mean anything.
d) people I don't know in real life who post very personal information in their status updates –
I guess their friends don't mind, but for some half stranger like me, it's just information pollution.
e) people who post in a way I perceive as sexist. I may hide them or get into an argument with them /troll them etc, depends on the mood.
Comment by Caroline Post-Paint — April 3, 2011 @ 12:23 pm
The perfect life people are hands down the worst. They very rarely comment on other people's shares, they rarely provide anything valuable at all, if anything, they are a waste of a friend to follow.
Comment by Green — April 4, 2011 @ 2:47 am
I love to post hilarious stuff like videos and pictures the same way I enjoy when my friends do! Nothing better than some laughs when I'm bored.
Now what really annoys me is"Fluffy Stuff" like pics with bears, hearts, cute generic kittens and stuff like that, its annoying, deprived of useful information, dont make me laugh and ultimately makes me sometimes miss some trully nice posts
Comment by Ana Cepeda Santos — April 5, 2011 @ 1:25 pm
[...] Social media casts a magnifying glass upon all kinds of anxieties — including the fear that somewhere all of our friends are leading exciting, audacious lives, while we are stuck at home in our pajamas, watching their adventures unfold via our Facebook news feed. [...]
Pingback by Facebook News Feeds Can Worsen Insecurity — April 10, 2011 @ 10:32 am
yup, i cant stand the lovey dovey posting too. what a show off! n other thing is the continue bragging of wedding photos, baby photos, honeymoon photos etc!!!!!! cant stand it!
Comment by jude — June 12, 2011 @ 11:51 am