Manners & other social necessities (and debunking some "gurus")
It matters how you engage people both online and offline. Below are a few suggestions to follow (and some I still aspire to!):
1. Be on time
This will put you ahead of 70% of the population!
2. Say please and thank you
When you appreciate a link someone shared, or some advice they've passed along – say thank you. Its so easy and yet it can validate the person's approach.
3. Be nice
It really does matter especially online! Word travels quick.
4. Don't be a monologue
I live in Indianapolis and I can't tell you how much it bugs to see this one particular "social media guru". All he does is announce his business life – "in meeting with brand X" or "Just arrived in Montreal to see brand Y". When intercepted – he glibly says – "well it got you interested". Don't be that guy or girl! Keep it balanced and have a conversation.
5. Caring matters now more than ever
I sat and listened to an expert dismiss someone's complaints because of their relatively low influence online. What if that one person is Jeff Jarvis? To quote Gary Vee or roughly anyway – when did it become okay to not care?
6. Don't be a hater
No one has time for haters. See point #3.
7. Don't share every detail
We don't need to read your tweets from your wedding aisle or your wedding bed. Get a life bud. We'd prefer to read a balance of busines and personal.
8. Think before you retweet
Recently I saw Rohit Bhargava say that MTV was irrelevant because they were showing "16 & Pregnant" when Michael Jackson had just died etc etc etc. First, I'm a huge MJ fan so I immediately retweeted it. And then my friend Amy Magan retweeted it. So then I did what I should have done to begin with – check MTV. It was showing Michael Jackson videos. I'm sure the rotation is different in different markets. I apologized. Of course it was even funnier to see a big time guru recently use that in her presentation – the MTV being irrelevant part. Wonder if she had checked a well. Doubt it though.
Got some you'd like to add? I'm sure there are a lot of you that have thoughts on this!
Duncan Alney Facebook | Twitter | Naymz | Blip.fm
True! I get embarrassed reading some of the comments on social media sites… don’t people realize it’s being published to potentially thousands of people? Here is another interesting blog post which talks about social media etiquette –
http://www.libertyinteractivemarketing.com/blog/social-media-issues/
Comment by Jess on July 21, 2009 at 5:44 pm
I know who #4 is!! Good list Duncan. Sorry I was late when we met… ehh.
Comment by Kyle Lacy on July 27, 2009 at 5:13 pm