Social Media Etiquette

JD Web Studio | Posted on June 17, 2015 |

In the physical world, there are certain etiquette guidelines established on how to present oneself to the world as a contributing member of society. However, many of these guidelines are not carried over into the online world which can cause problems in connecting with others. Today on #ASKAWEBDESIGNER we went over the good, the bad, and the ugly of the appropriate ways to communicate with one another online.

Here is a summary of the discussion:

Connecting with Others | How Not To Be Classified As Weird?
LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram…each one has its own decorum to follow when trying to connect with others. On LinkedIn, the first interaction should be an invite to accept but if you do not know the person in the real world the second interaction would be to direct message them with your intent. Do not call the person before you have had interaction via email or direct message. Today people are busy and when the phone rings it better be important and not to sell me anything.We discussed a positive way to grab the attention of a follower on Twitter and that is to send them a personalized message thanking them for participating in a stream or for participating in their conversation. Jaimee received a video thank you from a Meercaster for her participation in her stream.
Requesting Valuable Time | Be Liked, Not Loathed.
Stop sending game requests on Facebook! People have careers, kids, families, social events and do not have the time to play games. Sure there may be a few people out there who love the games, but usually it will tell you if the friend is playing the game with you. Another etiquette tip, for Facebook is to not keep messaging a person if you do not get a response. People will respond in their own time. Just because it appears they are online doesn’t mean they aren’t working.
Tagging People | Images, Posts & More
Promoting an event flier, don’t tag people in your picture to get their attention! Instead, create an event and invite them. Tagging people in pictures that has nothing to do with them can result in you no longer being friends with the person and dubbed a spammer. When tagging people in images they are actually in or posting the picture, think first: “Would I be embarrassed if it were me in the image?” Your friend fell asleep, you drew inappropriate image on their face, and took a picture think hard before posting the picture to the world. It could harm that friend’s future.
Opinions Welcome | Don’t Be A Troll
Everyone has an opinion, some agree some disagree. Don’t become a troll by insulting the person. Instead, state your opinion backed by facts without bringing others into your opinion. Think of the conversation as a debate and not a childish blame game.
Don’t Be A Sale Happy Sally
Don’t dominate your feed with advertisements for the products you are selling. Instead appeal to the people by posting articles or blog posts of the benefits of the product and with testimonial stories. This is one of the reasons Facebook changed it’s algorithms to help prevent people from seeing posts like these.
Think Before You Post | When to HALT
When hungry, angry, lonely or tired think before you post what is in your head. What you write can haunt you? Each of these feelings create depressing, insulting, and desperate posts. Once it is out there you can’t get rid of it. Even if you think you deleted it someone probably screen shot it.