DEAR HARRIETTE: Somehow I am connected to a young man on social media, and he is constantly sending me messages and tagging me on his various posts. At first, it didn’t bother me, but now I find it annoying. Also, because he tags me and a host of other people on these posts, I now get communications from some of them -- more people I don’t know. How can I get him to stop? I don’t want to unfriend him, but I’m thinking that’s what I need to do. I may also need to block him. Is that rude of me? I need to do something. -- Over Connected
DEAR OVER CONNECTED: You can start by sending him a direct message on whatever social media platform you two share. Ask him to stop including you in the posts where he tags lots of people. Explain that you have limited engagement on social media, and you do not want to be exposed to a broader group of people. You can add that you know he is active on social media, but you would appreciate receiving messages only every now and then, as you feel overwhelmed by the volume of messages that he sends you. If he continues to include you on the blasts, you should feel no qualms about blocking him.
One of the unwritten rules of social media is honoring people’s requests. If this man is unwilling to respect your preferred level of engagement, he doesn’t deserve to have access to you. You can unfollow him and block him and call it a day.