Social media is a huge part of a college student’s life. It is how we stay connected to other people on campus and people from home. We like being updated on other people’s lives, and we enjoy sharing our lives with others.

Did you just become an aunt? Congratulations! Update your status and let the world know. Did you just meet a celebrity? Be sure to Tweet and share the news with your followers! Facebook and Twitter are great for sharing good, funny and sometimes bad news.

However, there are three things that make my stomach churn when I see them on Facebook: mushy statuses, kissy pictures and passive-aggressive comments.

Let’s talk about the mushy statuses. If your boyfriend just took you on a date to see “Lion King 3D,” feel free to Tweet about it, because he’s clearly worth bragging about. If your girlfriend just helped you with your flashcards for two hours, update your status and tell the world how great she is. What nobody wants to see on Facebook is a status that says, “I love getting lost in your eyes, Dexter. I didn’t want to let go of you tonight. I can’t wait to see you again in the morning!” These kind of thoughts are more appropriate for a diary. Not for all of your friends to see.

But even worse than the mushy statuses are the kissy pictures people post. Nobody really wants to log on and see a picture of you trying to choke your boyfriend with your tongue. I can never really decide which I think are worse: The pictures of couples kissing that they took themselves, or when they force someone else to take it for them.

I used to be fooled by the pictures of couples kissing that weren’t self portraits. I thought maybe one of their friends snapped the shot during an incredibly spontaneous and romantic moment. Sometime this IS the case, and when it is, the picture can turn out almost nauseatingly adorable. I learned this is generally not the case last year when I witnessed a girl hand her camera to her friend and say, “Here, take pictures of us kissing because we need more cute pictures together on Facebook.”

Whether you take the picture yourself or make your friends do it for you, it seems a little strange to post it on Facebook. Are you insecure in your relationship and think you need to prove to all of your friends back home that your boyfriend loves you so much that he doesn’t care who sees him kissing you? Posting pictures like this won’t make anyone forget about the huge public fight you had on the dance floor last weekend.

Take the pictures if you would like, admire them on your camera, frame them, but please refrain from splashing them all over the web. If you really want to share your romance with the rest of the world, maybe post a picture of the dozen red roses that your boyfriend just bought for you out of the blue, or upload a TwitPic of the homemade dinner your girlfriend  prepared for you. When those kinds of pictures pop up in your friends’ news feed, they won’t be as likely to cringe. Bottom line: Don’t stage cute pictures. Let them present themselves.

I would rather deal with all of my friends posting gushy statuses and make-out pictures than I would have them make passive-aggressive comments on Facebook. I’m sorry, but if a guy tells you that he doesn’t like you ‘like that’ please don’t make your status read, “SERIOUSLY? Creighton guys need to grow up.” If you get into a fight with your girlfriend, do you really think the situation is going to improve if you Tweet, “I thought we were over this. I’m so tired of it. #annoyed?” How is that going to make the situation better? And if you seriously feel the need to make a status that says, “Just walk right by me like you don’t even care that you broke my heart.” Well chances are that whomever you are talking about DOESN’T care. Otherwise they probably would’ve stopped and talked to you.

I never have understood passive-aggressive comments on social media sites. Chances are that whomever you are talking about knows you are talking about him. Do you think he is going comment on your status and say, “Oh I’m so sorry!” or, “I didn’t mean it! Take me back!” No. Chances are he is going to show it to his friends and laugh about it. That’s the harsh reality. So again, maybe write in a journal or talk to a friend rather than sharing your angst with everyone you know. Or if you are going to share it with the world, at least make it into a poorly written and catchy song first like Taylor Swift does.

It’s not my place to tell you what you can and cannot do on Facebook. But do know that if you fall into any of the three categories discussed, you can’t really blame people for “hiding” your posts on their news feeds.