Social Manifesto: Social Media Etiquette (by Miss Advergirl)

Technology changes our expectations for behavior, our standards for etiquette. Social media is no exception. The things that are important here are vastly different than the broadcast Web. A few live-by rules:

• Be real: Be honest about your identity. Speak with your true voice. Share your personality.


• Be responsive. Engage in conversation. Reply quickly. Answer questions.


• Be a good host. Thank your community. Make people feel comfortable. Translate new terms, insider references, etc.


• Set expectations and deliver on them. Try to be consistent. Focus on a topic. Let people know when things change.


• Be personal, don’t broadcast. Don’t be one sided. Don’t be overly promotional. Don’t repeat, repeat, repeat.


• Listen, then talk. Know your community. Be relevant. Hear other opinions.


• Edit. Don’t overwhelm with frequency. Be brief. Be compelling.

Comments

[Jeff Parks]

Great list!

I think the largest problems facing those entering this space is that they fail to actively listen to those whom they are interviewing.

The Podcasts I enjoy sound like a discussion between two people at a conference. No scripts just dialogue between two or more people exchanging; debating; and sharing ideas.

As you've noted:

"Listen, then talk. Know your community. Be relevant. Hear other opinions."

[David Eisaiah Engel]

You know, that's really good advice. I wrote a small eBook about how to use Social networks and RSS to recruit candidates for professional services companies. You might want to check it out at http://mentastone.com/work/fbook.asp

[Sam]

Great pointers!

[Kevin Dugan]

I like this list. I like it even moree because it's offered up as guidelines and not rules. As we're all figuring this stuff out to a certain degree, who's to say there's one correct way of doing something?!

Listening is my favorite. They teach speech and writing in school. Why not listening?!

[Philipp Sauber]

Thats what I call a short and uncomplicated list of bullets.
One more point might be: dont get offended to quick and dont take things personal in the first place. Communication through the internet is not always easy, but can be easily misunderstood.