Do you have good Social Media Etiquette?

Social Media has a global reach and trust me when I write this, but there is no room for poor etiquette. Unless you would like to purposely rub your social media image in the dirt.  Creating accounts for every popular social media application or website and leaving your accounts dormant, why? Many people do this. They think they need to be on Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest and make their accounts, only to never open them again. If that sounds like you, both do your research and learn about each one and their benefits for you personally or your business so you can start using the application to your advantage, or simply just delete the account that you never use.

Some people fail to realize that having a social media account that hasn’t been watered and nurtured into an increasing amount of followers and content can be noticed by your next employer as lazy, careless and forgetful or lack of knowledge for that particular social media program. If you’re in the social media marketing field, then this is a really bad look for you.

Follow these social media etiquette tips and you’ll be on your way to having stellar online manners:

Facebook

[Tweet “#DidYouKnow Canada is the most active country on #Facebook? #SocialMedia”]

You should always Facebook message private matters instead of posting them on a Facebook wall. To some this may be common sense, but common sense isn’t very common to others unfortunately.

It’s okay to update several times a day, but keep at least a few hours of space between each post.

Respond to all comments, especially the rude ones in the nicest manner possible.

You don’t need to like and comment on every post your friends post. You may wander over to ‘stalker status’ in their eyes. Avoid that by being selective of what you like and comment on.

Yes Facebook hashtags do work but they’re not as popular on Facebook as they are on Instagram and Twitter. Limit to one or two if it’s a personal post. Posting to a business page? If they’re relevant hashtags then 4 is a safe number. More than 4 and you risk looking like you’re farming hashtags and don’t really know what the heck you’re doing. This isn’t Instagram people. However, a study done by Edgerank checker in June 2013 showed that posts on Facebook without hashtags were doing better than ones with. Because Facebook hashtags are still fairly new, I would use your own judgement and A/B testing to see what works best.

The number of ‘friends’ you have on Facebook doesn’t mean you’re popular in real-life. It may be true if you actually stay in touch with all 2000 of your facebook friends offline (which would be pretty impressive), but adding strangers doesn’t count. If you know someone through a business relationship then it is always best to add them on LinkedIn where you can keep things professional.

Use the 80/20 rule. 80% information, fun and entertaining posts, 20% of posts geared to a sale or a promotion.

Only ask people to like or share your post if you’re doing a poll.

Use first person plural when posting from a brand/business Facebook page.

Twitter

[Tweet “#DidYouKnow 46% of Twitter users use Twitter at least once a day? #SocialMedia”]

Hashtag was born on Twitter. Use relevant and popular hashtags on Twitter and you’re on your way to looking like a pro. Don’t use too many hashtags. (Side Note: A hashtag immediately expands the reach of your tweet beyond just those who follow you, to reach anyone interested in that hashtag phrase or keyword.)

Respond to comments and questions on Twitter right away. Twitter is a Social Media site that moves really fast in real time. Your answer may not matter in a few hours or tomorrow.

Don’t be afraid to favourite tweets you really like. Especially the tweets that you wouldn’t want to re-tweet because it’s not a tweet that your audience would really engage or relate too. If you’re managing a business/brand Twitter page then be careful what you favourite. Sensitive subjects like war, politics or competitor tweets can anger or confuse your followers.

Avoid sharing too much personal information. In recent studies it was shown that more recruiters are using Twitter to find talent and to find more information about you. 69% HR departments use Twitter and to assist with the recruitment process.

Check out this video from 2012. Social recruiting has become a lot more popular with more brands that have jumped on board in the last two years with recruiting twitter accounts like BCBG (@BCBGcareers), Disney (@TWDCjobs), Google (@Googlejobs) and more.

Don’t use all 140 characters. You still need room for people to re-tweet and add comments if need be.

You don’t have to follow back every person that follows you. Follow back if you actually DO want to follow their tweets. What do they tweet about? Is it something you may want to re-tweet or gain information from? Which brings me to my next point, don’t follow people to gain follow backs. When you do unfollow them, they will unfollow as well.

Google+

[Tweet “There are 63% Male users on Google+ and 37% Female. #SocialMedia “]

Always +mention users when commenting under their posts. This will allow for them to receive a notification and it will also direct your comment to the right person. It can get confusing when there are so many comments under the same post.

When you like something, like a comment someone made: +1 it.
Hitting the +1 on someone’s comment is a good way of saying, “I Agree”. You can +1 your own posts as well. Of course you love your own post, than why else would you post it? I feel most comfortable doing this on Google+ but I definitely wouldn’t like my own personal Facebook posts or Tweets. It just doesn’t feel right.

If you’re sharing someone else’s work, mention them in your post. Everyone wants to be appreciated or thanked for their work.

After you have +1’ed something, if you want to engage more, then add a comment. You may get into an interesting conversation and make a new friend. Yes, it’s okay to add someone who isn’t your real-life friend on Google+. The beauty of Google+ is that you can put them in circles (groups) that don’t share personal posts that you may only want to share with friends and family.

When you share a post, always add your own commentary to it first.

When someone shares your post, thank them.

If you’ve made mistakes in your post or forgot to add something then make sure you go back to edit it QUICKLY. This way, people aren’t sharing your posts with typos or missing information.

You can format your posts on Google+, so take advantage of that and make your posts intriguing by bolding or underlining words that will make your post stand out.

Add hashtags to your post. They are also automatically added to your post based on your content. (smart program). You can also add hashtags in your comments as well which is great!

Instagram

[Tweet “Instagram is about sharing a story. Create your own theme and stick to it. Consistent content.”]

If you’re a business, don’t use hashtags like #tagsforlikes, #doubletap, #likeforlike etc as it can look very unprofessional asking people for likes.

Posting with hours gap, minimum 4 hours is perfect for Instagram. Don’t over-gram, because no one wants to see their feed filled up with one users posts. That’s what Facebook photo albums are for.

If you want more engagement with your pictures, then you need to engage more with other peoples images. It’s only fair. If someone likes your picture or takes time to comment, it’s common courtesy to reply to the comment and take the time to check out their Instagram story.

[Tweet “#DidYouKnow interactions are highest on #Instagram posts with 11+ hashtags?”]

Quit using #too #many #hashtags! It’s not okay if your hashtags are exceeding a paragraph. Which also means it’s not cool and doesn’t work when you hashtag every other word in your caption.

Using unrelated hashtags under your image is confusing. Use hashtags that are related and save that #justinbieber tag for when you actually post and image of him.

The long hashtag can be funny or done totally wrong and not be readable because it’s all in lower case and just way too long.

#walkedthecattodayandsawanothercatthatlookedlikemycatandthoughtholycatmans or #IdenticalCatSoTrippy (along with the two cats side by side pic) See.

LinkedIn

[Tweet “#DidYouKnow there are 120 million users using #LinkedIn daily?”]

There’s an option on LinkedIn to update your status with images, links etc. Kind of like Facebook. But for LinkedIn keep it professional and only post things that are ‘industry specific’.

Recently I’ve been noticing a lot of ladies complain about being asked out on dates or asked questions through in mail for their email addresses because the male ‘professional’ is ‘interested’ in them. I’ve experienced this myself and quite frankly it’s messed up. LinkedIn is a professional networking site where you can connect with similar industry people. It’s a site to help you get up the career ladder, find jobs, connect with recruiters. It is not a dating site.

If a connection who has worked with you in the past recommends you. Take the time to write them a recommendation back. Same goes for when you’re endorsed for a skill.

Don’t obsessively look at someone’s profile, it’s very unprofessional and they can see that you’ve looked.

Starting your message to someone with “I see you viewed my profile..” is not a good idea. Sending them a personalized connection request is fine.

If you have any etiquette tips please leave a comment.