Mistakes people make on Facebook

1. Logging in from a free public WiFi hotspot. First, there's the question whether that "Free Public WiFi" network really is a free hotspot generously provided for your use by some benevolent business establishment that's out to capture your information.

And even if the hotspot is legit, because Facebook uses an insecure sign on protocol, your user name and password could be stolen by anyone sniffing the WiFi network (or by using Firesheep, a program designed to specifically target log-in cookies for popular social networks). Use the Electronic Frontier Foundation's free HTTPS Everywhere plug in for Firefox to force sites to use encrypted connections.

2.Post too many times a day on Facebook The recommended number of posts for brands is about 1 – 2 posts per day, for media companies, this can be 5 – 10 posts on a daily basis. Another thing is if you post too often on your Facebook page – meaning 5 minutes from each other.

3. Not engaging with people in comments Marketers often forget that you actually have to engage with your fans and respond fans – make sure you do reply people when they have questions, even if they are stupid questions.

4. Arguing with your fans Worst thing is to argue with your fans, if you have an angry fan, make sure he cools down, but do make sure to politically reply.

5.Using your account strictly for promotional purposes. Yeah, we know, people do this on Twitter all the time (and we secretly hate them for it). But if you only use Facebook to drive people to your site/article/cause du jour, you'll find yourself being quietly unfriended as well as ignored. Make at least half your posts personal and your peeps will find the promos more palatable.

6. Delete negative comments Even if you get super angry, never delete negative comments. 

7. Running competitions against the Facebook rules + applicable laws Many companies still actually announce winners, contact them over Facebook, don’t have the proper Terms and conditions, don’t have a data policy and are still storing your details. This is something that is a very common mistake.

8.Posting one type of content Just one type of content – say photos, is typically OK, but make sure that you also post diverse types of content, that is extremely important.

9.Not using applications / tabs The best thing about Facebook is you can create a campaign that will drive and boost your community. So why not create those competitions, campaigns?

10.Not responding to your fans Not responding to your fans in social media, and also responding slow in a crisis, is a mistake. If there is a crisis, your business is affected by, people will be looking out for your support in social media. Make sure that you not only respond, but that you do it fast!

11.Accepting Facebook's default privacy settings. You can make your public profile almost negligible, thanks to Facebook's enhanced privacy settings. But Facebook wants and needs you to share your data with the world for its ad model to work, , so its default settings are still pretty generous with your information. Take my advice: Go as private as you can and let the others take the heat.

12.Sending your fans to your site Only sending fans to your site is not the best way of keeping your community really active and sharing. Communities love videos and pictures, but if you just send them links to your page only, that won’t do the trick (unless it’s really relevant content), but always make sure to mix the content.

13. Not using Facebook landing tabs Landing tabs are a very important part of your Facebook page, we have proven that using them makes your page grow over 40% faster, and in recent numbers, even more! Make sure you have them!

14.Getting too personal. Did we really need to hear the intimate details of your latest Jagermeister jag or see photos of your recent colonoscopy? We think not. And neither will your prospective employers (45 percent check out Facebook accounts before hiring, per Carrer builder), college admissions officers (10 percent, per Kapalan), or potential mates. Remember these three letters: TMI.

15.Drunken commenting. You've had a few pops, so you log onto Facebook and begin leaving comments on people's photos and posts. They seem absolutely hilarious at the time, but in the cold hangover light of morning you just look like an ass. May I recommend the Social Media Sobriety Test?

16.Friending people because their profile pictures are hot. I have never done this. I swear. All those bikini models in my friends list are just there because I'm deeply interested in South Florida culture. What's the downside? Best case: You get inundated with the most banal updates and/or spammy self promotion you can imagine. Worst case: They turn out to be bait for some scammer trying to socially engineer information out of you.

17.Clicking ads inside Facebook Platform games. Because you really don't know what info those Facegames are sharing with advertisers, despite what they may claim.

18.Being duped by malware. These are typically spread via outrageously titled wall posts like “Justin Bieber just got erection in public”. Curiosity gets the better of you and you click on the link. Instead of a video of Justin's engorged manhood or bouncing bikini Betties, you get a bad case of Koobface or some other socially borne malware. Worse, that post now becomes part of your wall, tempting your friends to click. If  it's too outrageous or salacious to be believed, assume it's malware and move on.

19.Slagging on your boss, co-workers, friends, or significant others. Listen, we all got gripes. But in the meatspace they tend to dissipate over time; on Facebook they're forever, or as close to it as the digital world generally gets. They may fall harmlessly into the digisphere or they may come back to cause you a world of pain -- there's just no way to know.