There are tons of blogs telling you what TO do in social media. We’d like to share, instead, things that you should NOT do in social media. While none of us are purist “you’re using that network wrong” freaks (really: who determines how you can use a channel except the channel itself,) we do believe that there are certain standards of social media that need to be considered by all, much like manners at an event. Following are what our team considers the 7 social media sins worthy of death…(or at least ridicule.)
- Anti-Socialness: Do not set up a profile on Twitter or Facebook and not interact with others. That’s not social. This includes behaviors such as only posting quotes (that you’ve usually taken from others because you don’t have any original thoughts of your own,) posting only sales messages that lead back to your site, and using the space to only repost other’s posts. It’s very simple: it’s SOCIAL media. Talk WITH others, not AT them.
- Arrogance: This one is probably making some of you step back a bit if you know our brand. We don’t mean the arrogance that comes with a ton of experience and pride in what you’ve accomplished. We are totally cool with that. We despise “following” arrogance. This tends to happen on Twitter more so than any other site. Don’t sign up for Twitter, let a bunch of people follow you, and not follow any of them back. That’s arrogant. This sin is frequently demonstrated by big brands who think they are “too busy” to have all of the chatter of their fans “filling up their feeds.” First: you aren’t reading all of the chatter. Second, there are tools that you can afford to help disseminate what you need to respond to and not. Not following back (unless they are spammers, stalkers, or rude,) is like blatantly ignoring someone at a party that is talking to you, or like having someone walk up to you when you’re at a party and you saying to them, “I’m sorry, you’re not QUALIFIED to be in this conversation.”
- Sheeping: Don’t be the person that only follows those that are completely like-minded. It’s ok to interact with others that may have different viewpoints.
- Blind-faith: Don’t believe that someone is an expert just because their profile says so. This is very common with authors – especially in the social media space. A note to you: many of the authors and speakers in the social media space are completely anti-social (see sin #1) and make their money not by interacting, but by talking at you with THEORY. Most of them have never owned a company, or even managed a social media campaign for a client.
- Chit-chat-adverseness: Okay, so what’s a good word for those that only respond to the “important” questions on Facebook, but ignore the nice short commentary or compliments posted on their wall or sent via email? Brand managers commit this sin frequently. Their main focus is on customer service, which is not a problem, but they miss the graciousness of fans and the opportunity to make those fans feel special. So, thank people for their praise. You may even want to give them some back.
- Compliance-casualness: Almost every company has some sort of regulation in their industry. And most of those organizations have rules and regulations specific to social media communication. For almost all businesses, at the very least, you are beholden to FTC regulations. Find out what the regulatory bodies require and stipulate in social media, and don’t leave it to chance. If you need help, ask us. Most of the lawsuits and fines are the result of careless interactions by someone who was an “expert” in social media networks, but not in communication standards.
- Poor-writing: A limit in the number of characters is not an excuse for poor writing, or shorthand (in most instances.) Unless you’re a teenager talking to other teenagers, please use correct grammar and spelling to share your ideas and thoughts. Don’t be lazy.
So, what are your thoughts on this topic? What bugs you most in social media? Feel free to share thoughts and examples. (Screen grabs are a bonus!)