by Kristie Theobald

Created on: April 17, 2009

Pop! The telltale sound of a Facebook chat window opening. And it's HIM again.

"Hi, Kristie!"

Oh, God. WHY did I add this loser as a friend? He's making a pest of himself! Has he got some sort of radar that tells him exactly when I'm going to be online? Surely you can't check and see who's online THAT quickly, can you?

I press the Close button in the corner of the window and try to ignore him.

Pop!

"I have great news."

Let me guess: you learned to dress yourself?

Pop!

"Joe Black accepted my friend request."

Oh, geez. Who's Joe Black when he's at home; the bloody Prime Minister? Do I care? Why is he sharing this with me?

I click the window off again and continue to complete the fascinating quiz I'm in the middle of. And there he is again.

Pop!

"Are you there, Kristie?"

There are three things you can do in this situation. You can either make yourself offline, or you can keep on ignoring the person trying to chat to you and let him drive you nuts - or you can just give in and talk to them.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not a snob. I just hate people who insist on trying to chat to you when you're making it evidently clear that you just want to browse Facebook in peace. People that just won't take no for an answer.

Pop!

"How do you send gifts on Facebook?"

For God's sake!

"Up ya bum," I feel like retorting. But, for reasons that I still don't know, I tell him how you send virtual Facebook gifts and next thing I know I've got about 12 gift requests on my screen, all from the same guy.

That's the first type of pest on Facebook.

The second type is the one that still tries to chat to you, AND post unwanted crap on your wall. You might not even like what they're posting there. But they'll do it regardless!

And then they'll follow you all around Facebook, commenting on everything you do, your photos, your status, and they'll join every group you join. Surely they can't like EVERYTHING you like?

There's someone on my list in this category who is also friends with a couple of members of my family. If I want to chat to my family online, it's hard because Facebook hasn't yet developed a way to block individuals from chatting to you. So I'll be in the middle of a conversation and POP!

"Hi!"

If I haven't noticed this person online, usually one of my relatives will give me a heads up that he's there. There are times when a really good Facebook friend can turn into a stalker!

I love my friends on Facebook. But there are just some who can wear out their welcome pretty damn fast. They can really drain your energy, too.

Don't let them ruin your Facebook experience. Kick them off your friends list and block them so they can't find you. Let them go and bug someone else!

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