Today I received a Facebook event invitation from someone I haven't seen in 12 years to a party for someone I don't even know.
Look, I know it's easy just to hit a button and invite every frickin' person on your Facebook list but, in case no one else has told you, THAT ISN'T HOW IT WORKS.
And it isn't just this person. It happens every single week -- some random person that I know peripherally will invite me to some event that is 3,000 miles away from me to celebrate someone that I don't even know. Then, I have to take time to login into Facebook, go to the events and then look like an asshole by declining all the invitations that really have nothing to do with me in the first place. And if you don't decline them, then you continue to get reminders every time someone posts how excited they are to see how much Pookie has grown at her upcoming jump rope competition. (Thanks for the invite! Squeee!)
I know how this makes me sound -- all Humbug-ish and "Get off my lawn, damn kids!" -- but I'm just asking for people to use a little common sense before inviting every damn person they've met since grade school to every event they have.
Is that too much to ask?
Apparently that answer is, "Yes! Yes, it is too much to ask!" because it continues to happen to me and everyone else on Facebook a daily basis.
Here's a simple hint to remember: If a person lives three states away from you then they probably don't need to be invited to your event that happens two days from now. We'll call it our little public service announcement, K? (Need another tip? Don't just "SELECT ALL" and then invite everyone on your list.)
If those tips seem like too much, then you might need more help. To that end, we've created a helpful infographic in order to avoid any confusion on which of your Facebook friends should be invited to your event.
Before you have an event, simply refer to the infographic and answer some simple yes or no questions.
Facebook Manners for Using Event Invitations (An Infographic)
A version of this post originally appeared on PrimeParentsClub.com.