You—yeah, you. I’m not going to mention you by name, because that would just be rude, but you know I’m talking about you. You know who you are.

It’s those kinds of statuses, tweets and Yaks on social media that are getting people into deep trouble. The “you know who you are” messages need to stop and they need to stop fast.

We have all read them and shaken our heads. The passive-aggressive Facebook status after two friends have had an argument, or when two co-workers simply aren’t getting along. One person gets on social media and vents their problems, using words like “you always do this and I hate it,” “when people do this” and “I hate it when she says this.”

I witnessed a pretty nasty showdown while I was working over break, and someone almost got fired for it. My employer has a strict no social media policy. Posting anything negative about work is a big no-no.

Two of my co-workers were fighting and one of them put up a status on Facebook trying to mess with the other one’s marriage, accusing her of being interested in another man. Because she was the only married woman in the department, we knew the post was about her and they both got into a lot of trouble for it.

It isn’t just the workplace where this problem surfaces. I see it a lot after people break up. They post song lyrics, angry statuses and are just downright accusatory and it’s more than obvious exactly who they’re talking about. That can get messy very quickly.

Romantic relationships, in general, truly need to be kept off Facebook for the majority of things. Sure, posting a few happy statuses is just fine, even I do it, but posting anything negative and airing out your relationship problems with social media can sink a relationship fast.

When Yik Yak came out, more of these problems arose. People were now able to freely complain about each other without even saying who they were, but that came with its own issues. Context clues are easy to use when deciding, “Is this post about me?”

It can actually be a form of cyber-bullying, though it’s a little bit harder to fight than outright damaging statements. While it may be more of a gray area, it’s still a big deal.

Even not telling someone a piece of important information, something as simple as having a crush on someone and never saying anything directly, can change the course of your life. What if you post a status or a tweet about “that blue-eyed boy” and they never see it? Or they see it and have no idea it’s them?

Rise above social media. There’s no reason we can’t sit down and have civilized discussions with each other, because that’s the most effective way of solving any problem—be it negative or positive.

Social media is no place for dirty laundry, so air it out in person. If you have a problem with a friend, co-worker, or even acquaintance, talk it out face-to-face. There’s no use damaging yours or someone else’s reputation.

Don’t do it—you know who you are.