01 Apr 10 Commandments of Social Media Interaction
I recently ran across an insightful little article on Mashable about the 10 Commandments of Social Media for Brands, http://on.mash.to/13W2XWi, and with the two major holidays, I thought it seemed topical. This info also applies to people and their social media interactions, not just companies or brands. Word Wizards, Inc follows these ideas and encourages others in the video, production, transcribing and post-production business to do the same.
1. Thou Shalt Not Lie
While this may seem basic, it’s even more important to remember when doing anything on a social media site online. While it’s easy to delete something, its even harder to completely erase it from the web entirely. Not only can it cause your personal and professional reputation to suffer but it can also lead to some nasty legal consequences
2.Thou Shalt Respect the Hashtag
While the Hashtag can serve as a very useful way to bring attention to your tweets, be weary of overusing or not having it in the appropriate context. This means just throwing one onto an unrelated post which could backfire and end up driving possible fans away due to them feeling alienated or cheated.
3. Thou Shalt Keep It Strictly Business
Even though it might seem easy to just let personal and professional social media messages mix together, this is one area where everyone should be extremely vigilant. Most people will follow your professional posts or brand because their interested in what you do but if you veer from that, it’ll show you in a not so positive light.
4. Thou Shalt Do Good
Your online postings should be less promotional and more beneficial to your audience. While it’s very tempting to use social media venues for simple self-promotion, you should be offering insights, opinions, way to save time or money, and posts that people get something meaningful out of.
5.Thou Shalt Not Hog The Conversation
Getting your message out is important but proactively engaging your audience should be a key priority. Since Social Media is in many ways a big online conversation, don’t be that one person who just can’t stop talking and makes it impossible for anyone else to get a word in.
6. Thou Shalt Be Brief
More is less!!! This is not the place for anything exceedingly long, drawn out or just rambling since people will make snap judgments and only look at your message for a few seconds before they decide to keep reading. Keep it short with concise language, links, references and visual references to convey all important information at a simple glance.
7.Thou Shalt Think Before They Post
Aim to have each of your postings be unique and steer clear of too much repetitiveness. Another thing to consider before you hit the post button is what does this post contribute that makes it stand out and different from others?
8. Thou Shalt Be True to Thyself
Since the social media community is often considered to be one big group conversation, you should strive to be both a respected and respectful member of it. Be consistent with your message but at the same time be mindful of the needs of your customers, audiences and anything that might damage your image.
9. Thou Shalt Not Be Indifferent To The Voice of Thy Customer
While few actually enjoy constructive criticism, it still can be an incredibly valuable resource and one that should not be ignored. You should be using it as an opportunity to examine and improve your output, engage with your followers and maintain an approachable image that people feel they can talk to.
10. Thou Shalt Be Patient and Considerate
Neither brands or people can just take off overnight since both of these need to build a loyal and supportive audience to help. You can manage this by creating useful content that addresses needs and concerns. It’s through building this critical two way relationship that will allow you to grow.