Facebook and Twitter: how to avoid losing friends and followers

Millie Mackintosh shows off her engagement ring on Twitter.. were you annoyed? (@camillamackintosh)

It’s that dark and dreary time of year when a Facebook holiday photo can make us snap and an engagement ring on our Twitter timeline can prompt a snarl.

Yet despite these decidedly annoying posts, it’s actually talking about religion on social media that will aggravate your Facebook friends and Twitter followers the most.

According to a new study by communications agency Diffusion, it's not inspirational quotes that inspire rage, but posts about religion.

Almost a third of the 2000 British people surveyed were irritated by religion-related comments on Facebook and Twitter, scoring more highly than traditional social media annoyances.

Indeed public displays of affection only annoyed 25 per cent of respondents, while gym updates irritated one in five and public displays of affection angered seven per cent.

Unsurprisingly it is sexist or racist posts that will cost you your social connections (just like it perhaps would in real life.)

Over half (53 per cent) of those asked said that they would unfriend someone of their updates were sexist or racist on Facebook and Twitter, while over two out of five (46 per cent) say that lewd comments would lead them to sever their social media connections. Uniquely, vanity will also cost you social media connections with almost one in five (19 per cent) admit that they would unfriend someone for posting too many selfies.

Tom Malcolm, Head of Consumer at Diffusion, commented: “Consumers have developed an unspoken etiquette for Facebook and Twitter which, if ignored, could make the difference between retaining your online friends and falling victim to a social media cull. Our research shows that people should be thinking twice before filling their follower’s feeds with selfies and smugshots.”