The social media universe has developed into a
world with it’s own ways of interacting, and its own rules of social media
etiquette. Stumbling around this brave new world is exciting, but it can also
lead to some embarrassing moments. Today I’ll share some tips to help you
acclimate to this new online society.
Facebook
When to LIKE , COMMENT or SHARE on Facebook: When you read a post on Facebook you have three
options if you want to interact.
The First is to LIKE the post. When you click on LIKE, Facebook will register your user name and the
fact you liked it. This carries more weight with the Facebook EdgeRank Algorithm than just
viewing the post, but not as much as commenting.
The second option is to COMMENT. This carries the most weight with Facebook and will give you the
most engagement with others seeing the post. BUT, and this is an important
consideration, it will also include you in all subsequent conversations. This
means that if you get email notifications on Facebook, every time someone else
comments on this post, you’ll get an email about it. If it’s a popular post,
that can mean twenty or more emails in your inbox. So think carefully before
you comment.
NOTE: You can opt
out of a conversation (what Facebook calls post interaction). But if you choose
to do that, everyone in the conversation will be notified that you opted out.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it’s always good to know.
The final option is to SHARE a post on Facebook. This takes a copy of the post and pastes it on your page. When
Facebook pastes the post, it gives you the option of deleting the name of the
person you got the post from. Doing so is bad form. Not quite as bad as
plagiarism, but it is in the neighborhood.
·
So LIKE a post, when you want to let people know
you agree or enjoyed it.
·
COMMENT if you don’t mind becoming part of the
ongoing conversation.
·
SHARE a post, always giving credit to the
original poster.
When to Hide a post, Hide a person, or just
UNFRIEND them:
HIDING a post will make that particular update disappear from your
timeline.
Hiding a person can keep that
person’s updates from showing up on your timeline. This is a good option if you
don’t want to offend someone.
NOTE: To do either of these, click on the gray arrow on the upper right of
the specific post
UNFRIENDING someone basically says you don’t want to have any interaction with that
person. Depending on how many friends you have, this may be noticeable,
especially if you interact regularly at work or socially.
NOTE: To do this, you’ll need to visit their FB page, hover over the FRIEND
button and choose UNFRIEND from the drop-down menu that appears
·
So HIDE someone who’s annoying.
·
UNFRIEND someone you don’t mind alienating.
http://www.libertynews.com/2013/07/ifieverseezimmerman-trends-on-twitter-as-violence-spews-into-the-streets/ |
Twitter
When to RETWEET and when to REPLY: There are two ways to answer someone on Twitter,
RETWEET and REPLY. And there are specific times to use each one.
A RETWEET, is a repeat of the tweet sent. This is used when you want to share a tweet with your followers. For
instance, if I saw a tweet about how to avoid getting embarrassed on Twitter,
I’d retweet it to my followers so they could learn too. I also use it to share
good news about others.
A REPLY, is an answer to a tweet that’s been
sent. This is used if someone asks you a question on
Twitter. It’s also used when someone else mentions you on Twitter. It’s a way
of saying thank you. It’s considered a very bad instance of bragging to retweet
a mention of yourself. For instance if someone tweeted about this post, I’d
REPLY and say thank you.
·
So RETWEET if you see an update you want to pass
on to your followers.
·
REPLY when someone mentions you or asks a
question.
Social Media in General
When is it acceptable to HOG THE STREAM? The short answer is …NEVER! Hogging or Spamming the stream, means
posting several social media updates in a row. This can be on Twitter,
Facebook, Google+, etc. You can do this inadvertently by engaging the AUTOMATIC
updates available on some ancillary programs like Tweetdeck, Hootsuite, or
Buffer.
This option of automatic updates claims to
identify when the largest amount of your followers are engaging on social media
and update at that time. Unfortunately this can often result in multiple
updates sent one right after another. This can leave you labeled as an
irritation or even banned from certain networks. I recommend you avoid any
automatic scheduling options to avoid this.
So schedule the times when you send out your
social media updates and don’t post them one after another. Spread them out.
·
First, so you don’t irritate anyone by Hogging
the Stream.
·
Second, so you reach people who are on at
different times of the day.
These are just a few of the worst blunders for
social media. I’d like to know what social media faux pas you’ve seen and which
ones irritate you the most.
Bio:
Edie Melson is the author of four books, with two more due out January
2013. Her popular blog, The
Write Conversation, reaches thousands of
writers each month, and she’s the co-director of the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference. Her bestselling ebook on social media has just been updated and
re-released as Connections:
Social Media and Networking Techniques for Writers. She’s the Social Media Mentor at My Book
Therapy and the social media director for Southern
Writers Magazine. She’s also the Senior
Editor at Novel Rocket. You can
connect with Edie through Twitter and Facebook.
Edie this is an awesome post. Sometimes it's the little things that trip us up and the obvious is not so obvious. Thanks for clarifying. It helped me!
ReplyDeleteEdie this is an awesome post. Sometimes it's the little things that trip us up and the obvious is not so obvious. Thanks for clarifying. It helped me!
ReplyDeleteThis etiquette is really interesting. Will "liking too many posts at one time" hog the stream? Great insights, Edie! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Edie! I am new to Twitter and this makes me feel more confident in my interactions. Glad you were able to share on the Alley today!
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Edie.
ReplyDeleteDo you think it's better to have two separate FB pages (one as author and one as personal) that you spread your time between - or one just one in which you can devote your time more consistently? Is there a preference?
Just curious! Spinning plates and all :-)
Thanks for the good advice. Especially regarding Twitter, which I am still so new at and don't really get!
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Sue
I like Pepper's question, too!
ReplyDeleteWill check back for an answer.
Great post, Edie! I especially appreciate the notes you shared regarding Twitter. I'm still figuring out how to use it well.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I thought I knew most of this stuff but apparently not everything! I didn't know that if I opted out of receiving the follow up comments the others were informed. OOPS! I tend to do that when the conversation spirals into big numbers and I can't keep up. Even if I was an initiator. That is good information to know. I don't want to be rude, just sort of bow out silently. Shoot! Thanks for the great info, Edie! We all need a social media guru. ;)
ReplyDeleteMary Vee, thanks so much for stopping by!
ReplyDeleteJulia, yes, LIKING a post will show up in a stream. You'll get the same issue on Pinterest if you pin a lot of things all at once. That's really a pain because there's not a reliable FREE Pinterest scheduling program right now. So I have to pin a little, move on, come back, pin some more, etc.
Angie, I'm really happy to be here!
Thanks guys for having me - Blessings, E
Pepper, I used to subscribe to the idea that an author needed a professional page. Now I think it's more trouble than it's worth to keep up 2 pages. I have over 2000 friends on my personal profile and can't seem to reach 400 on my professional page. I've just decided to hang out on my personal page until it gets too big. It's working great for me. I know authors who have GREAT professional pages (waving at Beth K Vogt). But if you're just trying to build one, stick with just the personal profile.
ReplyDeleteSusan, Twitter is a great thing…once you get the hang of it. There's more of a learning curve with it than with Facebook, but personally, I love it WAY more!
Blessings, E
Jeanne, I think you're doing great - keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteAmy, I think most people understand when someone bows out of conversation. They can really clog up your inbox if there are a lots of people on it. That said, I try not to be the first person to bow out, but sometimes I don't have a choice. I do send a message to the group, explaining how valuable I think the information is, but that I've got to get back to work. No one has ever unfriended me or sent me a hurt message. People are pretty generous, especially with an explanation.
I've LOVED being on the Writer's Alley today!! Thanks again for having me, Blessings, E
Edie you are a master! I love how this explains the basics and gives great ground rules for social media! Twitter is one of my favorite, I do admit. It's the constant conversation that this people person simply adores. Glad to have you today! :D
ReplyDelete