DEAR HARRIETTE: A new "friend" on Facebook has been posting like crazy of late and tagging me on a ton of her posts. While many of them are harmless, although not necessarily what I would post, some are a bit offensive. I have awakened several mornings to see a flurry of commentary from people about controversial postings that she has made and tagged to me. She has very few friends compared to my at-capacity list. I don't yet want to block her, but I do want her to be more discriminating when she includes me. It's almost as if she is using my expanded audience to build her own. I don't like that. What should I do about it? -- Slow Your Role, Washington, D.C.
DEAR SLOW YOUR ROLE: It's time to use a powerful Facebook feature -- the direct message. Go to her page, and on the upper right-hand corner, you will notice a tab that says MESSAGE. Click that and write to her. Tell her how you feel about her posting tags on your page, and ask her either to stop tagging you altogether or to be more discriminating. Tell her what you find offensive or inappropriate for your page. You can also point out that you do not accept the role of helping her build her audience through tagging. If she responds graciously, you can allow her to stay in your "friends" portfolio. If she continues to be too intrusive, you can block her from your page altogether.
Just be aware that it could all go south, and fast. Many people become extremely defensive when actually contacted by a "friend" rather than living anonymously in cyberspace. If this person goes to an extremely intense place, just "unfriend" her.