The Rules Of Social Media - The Results Are In

This has been a really interesting discussion. We started in July with the second round in August. Finally we have a comprehensive list of the dos and don’ts according to all of our social media communities. A big thank you to all of you who took the time to contribute.

A big surprise for me was how strongly people felt about some issues. And I have to bow to popular demand and point out that the list below is simply a list of guidelines. There are exceptions to every rule and some people find even the highest rated don’ts work for them. However I would exercise caution, whatever your strategy it is important to measure the results clearly and consistently. Is social media really working for you and if not how can you adjust your behavior for better results?

I have also resisted adding my opinion to the survey so far as I wanted to see what others thought but now that the results are in I’d like to add my vote to ‘Do be polite, considerate and respectful’. I see this frequently abandoned in the heat of the moment and I think it is important to remember that everything we say on the Internet reflects on our business. Being controversial works but there is a fine line between controversy and rudeness, a line that I strive not to overstep. Having said this, again there are exceptions to the rule, controversy and rudeness, if it suits your business could be a big draw.

The Full List as suggested by our online communities:

Do give benefit to your community
Do be different
Do be funny
Do be interesting and relevant
Do be polite, considerate and respectful
Do be sociable
Do build a strong network
Do comment on blogs
Do complete your Linkedin profile
Do converse and reply when someone attempts to engage you
Do create your own App for Facebook or Smartphone
Do get involved in discussions
Do have an open and public Facebook page so those not on Facebook can access it
Do personalise Linkedin invites
Do post useful resources
Don’t insult people
Don’t apply ‘Old Media’ strategies to social media
Don’t be a creepy lurker
Don’t be repetitive
Don’t broadcast, engage
Don’t have personal conversations on Twitter (do it privately)
Don’t invite people who will get no benefit from it to fan your Facebook page
Don’t join Linkedin groups and not engage
Don’t just collect followers and likes, make them relevant
Don’t link your Twitter account to your Linkedin profile fully
Don’t only follow celebs
Don’t post inane tweets / posts
Don’t pretend you know about social media when you don’t
Don’t protect tweets
Don’t schedule tweets
Don’t sell, sell, sell!
Don’t spam Linkedin groups, only post relevant content
Don’t swear
Don’t think that Facebook is just B2C
Don’t post a big bunch of Tweets in a row
Don’t update Facebook personal and business accounts concurrently with the same info
Don’t use push over pull
Don’t write rules, suggest guidelines
Don’t post too often or talk too much