Social Media Manager - Social Media Marketing Services

Social Media Manager -
As social media continues to grow and evolve, so do the rules of etiquette surrounding its use. Whether you're reconnecting with old friends on Facebook, using Twitter to promote your business, following bands you like on MySpace or sharing hobbies and interests with bloggers on LiveJournal, each of these platforms share some common guidelines of courtesy and etiquette, as well as more specific ones for each. Following these largely unwritten rules will make it easier for you to have a fun time and avoid unnecessary conflict, as well as help you meet your promotional objectives. The following is a brief guide to some of the major issues of good etiquette one should remember when using social media.

1. Introduce yourself.

If you don't know someone in real life, it can often be a good idea to introduce yourself when requesting to "friend" or "follow" them on Facebook, Twitter, LiveJournal, or similar social media services. Many users of such sites limit who can see their postings for privacy reasons, so they aren't going to friend every random stranger who requests access to their information. Similarly, for location-based social media services like Foursquare, many users will only accept friend invitations from people they know "in real life" (that is, not just on the internet) because of the potential for abuse and stalking.

Introducing yourself makes you less likely to look like a spammer or advertising bot, and helps engender good will with other users. Remind someone where or how you've met (if it was at a conference, a social gathering, a party or work-related event) when introducing yourself. Or if you've never met before, briefly explain why you're interested in friending or following them. If you plan on using social media for business purposes, this point of etiquette is especially important, as the last thing you want to do is be reported as a spammer and banned from using a service.

The corollary to this rule is that sometimes, you may wish to unfollow or "unfriend" a person. It could be because their posting activity no longer interests you, something they said or believe in offends you, or you just need to cut back on who you follow for time purposes. It is typically best to unfollow someone quietly and without an announcement to them about it, unless the person is someone you have known for a long time who would notice and find your unfriending puzzling or hurtful. In a situation like this, it is often best to explain yourself politely, for you may be able to resolve the problem (and save a friendship) instead of losing a contact completely.

2. Don't spam your friends or your business contacts.

While many use social media to promote their business activities, it is possible to do so without appearing like your only interest in following people is to promote yourself. Interact and engage with others-show interest in their activities, don't just promote your own. Don't comment on blog posts simply to link to your own site or services, as that's a quick way to be labeled a spammer and be blocked from numerous websites. Don't mass-follow people on Twitter and expect the effort to be reciprocated because again, you will only look like (and likely be) a spammer.

Set a limit on how often and when you post promotional messages. For instance, say you are an artist with a gallery show opening coming up. It's great to send invites out to your contacts via Facebook-once. Post an initial announcement about the opening there and on Twitter, and then maybe repeat the announcement once a week and right before the event to remind people. Posting constantly about it, multiple times a day, is not cool and likely to annoy people more than generate interest. Asking others to copy and help spread your announcement, without ever doing the same in return for them, is also bad form.

That said, posting a regular, routine schedule of updates to your social media network helps keep you in your readers' consciousness. I've found it a good schedule to follow to post at a Facebook update once a day, to the pages I'm looking to promote. Twitter can be used multiple times a day, say 2-6 at best, or else you begin to potentially lose your readers to over-promotion.

Even for non-business uses, people can be seen as "spammers" for how they use, or abuse, social media. Be considerate about how many Twitter contest entry posts you "re-tweet". Many people find it annoying to constantly see things like "Re-tweet this message to be entered in a drawing for a new iPad!" popping up in their Twitter stream. If you want to partake in such contests, consider setting up a separate Twitter account just for posting them. On Facebook, is it really necessary to allow a game application to constantly post your newest high scores to your news feed? Do you really need Foursquare to copy all your status updates (including visits to the grocery store or work) to your Facebook and Twitter streams? Be careful on Facebook with application invitations as well. Sending them repeatedly to everyone on your friends list can be annoying, and these apps can spread viruses to your friends.

3. Don't assume over-familiarity with celebrities.

Famous individuals are increasingly "breaking the fourth wall" between themselves and their fans. Musicians, actors, writers, and other public individuals can often be found participating on social media networks such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, and it's certainly good, cheap publicity for them. It can be exciting as a fan to have a celebrity you admire respond to one of your Tweets, or friend you back on Facebook. But it's important to remember that such contact does not make this person your new best friend. Repeatedly making wall posts on a celebrity's Facebook asking for autographs or personal favors is not good form. Neither is sending them Farmville invitations! (Yes, I have seen at least one celebrity post on her wall begging her "friends" to stop sending her invitations to join Mafia Wars, Farmville, and other Facebook games.) Also, don't simply try to use celebrities' large reader base to promote yourself, through posting advertisements for your own band or activity on their Facebook or MySpace walls.

But more than anything, you really, really don't want to end up like these fans, who used a musician's Twitter stream to track down his travel schedule, and when he'd be at his house so they could get pictures taken with him. Act like that, and you're just one step short of being taken to court for being an internet stalker.

4. Think before you type.

The anonymity of the internet often makes it easier for people to say things to each other that they wouldn't say face-to-face, and politeness can fly right out the window. It can also make it difficult to interpret tone, for sarcasm and irony don't always come across they way they might be intended. If you feel angry or upset about something you read on-line, or a comment made in response to something you've posted in your blog or elsewhere, don't jump to respond angrily right away. Take some time to calm down, walk around the block, make a cup of coffee...distance yourself in some fashion. Compose a calm response in your head before sitting down to type it up, or debate whether it's even worth responding at all. Some people purposefully set out to cause flamewars and anger on the internet, which is why there's a long-standing rule of netiquette: "Please don't feed the trolls."

If someone has called you out for saying something they find offensive, try to listen to their concerns instead of becoming defensive. I've seen friends repost insensitive jokes or statements regarding race, gender, weight, class, disability, political leanings, and religion. You might not even realize that a statement is offensive to others until it is pointed out to you, in which case, an apology can go a long way-and much further than telling someone to "suck it up" and not to be "so sensitive".

5. Remember who is reading your posts-or who could be reading.

If you don't privacy-lock your Twitter, LiveJournal or Facebook feeds, anyone on the internet can find them, and it might not be the people you want seeing your opinions, complaints, and activities. There have been stories of people being fired from their jobs for complaining about their boss on Facebook-when they had their boss on their friends list! Or fired after claiming a sick day and then showing up in posted photographs at a party that day instead. In one study in 2009, 8% of surveyed companies reported firing someone over their use of social media, and 17% reported having problems with how their employees use social media.

A potential landlord, employer, client or even a date can look your name up on a social network service and learn more about you than you might want them to know. Embarrassing pictures posted of you as a joke among friends could easily create the wrong impression of your professionalism, or lack thereof. If there are such pictures of you out there on the net, politely ask your friends to "un-tag" you from them if you think it could be trouble for your professional life (or better yet, ask them to delete the pictures entirely). And, similarly, be polite and oblige if someone asks you to do the same regarding a picture you have posted.

Social Media Etiquette: In conclusion

Social Media Etiquette is a complicated issue. But it is an issue that one must be aware of and study carefully if one is going to use social media successfully, whether for personal or professional reasons. I hope this guide has helped illustrate some of the common, most important issues in social media etiquette and given you some tools to make your experience utilizing it more productive.

- Social Media Manager