Social Media Etiquette for Everybody

Every day we make decisions about what to say, how to act and react, and whether or not to let that guy who’s honking his horn and flashing his headlights merge into traffic. We try to be polite-some more effectively than others. Why is it, then, that people are so often quick to do or say the wrong thing online? Etiquette is important, no matter the medium. Here are some basics to always remember.

Let people know who you are. Be sure your profiles are filled in completely, including a photo, bio and contact info. If you have a website, be sure to link it – and it never hurts to link to other social profiles as well.

Use names and @mention people. When you’re dealing with the public (assuming you’re managing social media for a business) saying the name of the person with whom you’re talking really goes a long way, both to endear you to them and solidify a connection. As an added bonus, using the person’s name helps you to remember.

Give credit to the original content creator. Not everything you share on the Internet came straight from your mind. Be sure to mention the person who did create it. It’ll boost your cred with others, and it’s good Karma too.

Don’t mass-post (also known as an instadump). If you’re managing social media for your company (or yourself for that matter) it can be easy to share several things you have found in mass succession. This crowds the timelines of your friends or followers. Do it a few times and some of them will almost certainly disconnect from your feed.

Don’t go #hashtag crazy. Hashtags are everywhere now: Twitter, Google+, Facebook, Instagram, Vine… you name it. They’re a great way to search through content, but too many of them in an individual post can be quite off-putting. As an aside, don’t hijack other’s hashtags. That is, don’t try to make a popular tag about you/your product.

Keep your privates private. If you’re having a conversation with someone via direct message or email, don’t share any portion of that conversation publicly Also, if a situation requires a delicate touch, be sure to handle it via private medium.

Don’t use social autopilot. There are some great social media management programs available. These will let you schedule your posts to go out right when you want them to, no matter when you actually enter the content. Don’t forget; just because the program will take care of the initial post, doesn't mean it can answer any questions or respond to comments. It can’t.

Don’t mix voices. If this is a social media presence representing a business, don’t use “I”, don’t talk religion or politics (unless that’s your business), and don’t alienate potential customers by posting a lot of opinion pieces.

Prooferad. Make sure your statuses are pithy and properly spelled and punctuated. Use the right words. People will notice. Also, we know we misspelled proofread. We wanted to be sure you were paying attention.

If you have anything to add or if you dispute any of these, let us know. Tweet us. Facebook us. Email us. Just be sure your spelling and grammar are up to snuff.

SEO Is...

In the early 1840s, a very wise person coined the phrase “never talk about religion or politics.” Opinions regarding these two things are arguably the most deeply held beliefs among most Americans. We either agree, or we don’t. Vehemently. In either case, it’s best-in polite company-not to discuss these topics and potentially incite a row. We say, add to this list of taboos the topic of search engine optimization. SEO professionals have widely varying opinions as to what’s best when it comes to getting a website seen, and everyone believes his or her method is the best, without question. Well, we’re ogres and we've never been too keen on obeying the rules, walking on eggshells or candy-coating the truth. As such, we’re going to lay a little SEO knowledge out there for you. Pick up what you can use.

In the early days of the Web, back in the 90s, search engines cataloged websites. Their “spiders” would then download the page and crawl the content looking for links and topics. In August of 1997, John Audette of Multimedia Marketing Group documented the phrase “search engine optimization.”

I searched teacup poodle; why am I seeing results for oolong and earl grey?

Initially, the search engines’ algorithms relied on webmasters to provide information letting the engine know the content of the site via keyword meta tags and index files. It didn’t take long for programmers to start looking for ways to game the system, coming up higher in end-users’ search results. Eventually, a simple Web search would return links to sites that had nothing to do with the actual query. Webmasters were stuffing meta tags with anything they could remotely associate with the product or information actually being displayed.

An old internet marketing joke goes (something) like this: 

A SEO expert walks into a bar, bars, pub, Irish pub, tavern, watering hole, beer, wine, whiskey, whisky, shot, shotgun, rifle, pistol, bandolero, tequila… You get the idea.

Search engines adapted. Traditional methods of utilizing keyword density, inbound links and link farming used to get businesses a spot on page one of Google. Now, those practices may get your site flagged for spamming.

Wait, so SEO is dead?

We didn't say that.  There are still lots and lots of companies out there willing to sell you a $500+/month SEO package of blogging, link building and general Internet voodoo. Some of the old practices are still very valid in modern marketing. More important, however, are things like quality/original content, frequent updates, social sharing and well written code utilizing embedded keywords, heading tags and alt image tags.

The old SEO methods of telling people you had something (keyword stuffing) and then not delivering on content are dead. Search engines are getting better at showing us what we’re truly looking for. Thank you, search engines.

Sound off!

Do you have any SEO experiences – positive or negative – or is there anything you’d like us to blog about? Get in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter or via email. 

Which One is the Last Word?

Social media can never truly replace in-person conversation, but it’s trying. In fact, many people refer to social media as a conversation. It is, really. The short form and quick, easy access allow people to exchange thoughts on myriad subjects in real-time; just like in an actual conversation, but without all of the annoying inflection and intonation. Wait, that’s what’s keeping social media from being an actual conversation. Being able to hear how people are saying things and seeing facial expressions during a conversation are what adds intimacy to the exchange. When actually talking with someone, it’s easy to tell when it’s time to move on to a different subject. What about online, though – when is the conversation over?

Some online venues, most often forums, have a way to close a thread to comments. This usually can be done by either the original poster, or a moderator of some sort. If you can’t comment, it’s a pretty safe bet the conversation’s over.

Barring the obvious, some other ways to tell a conversation’s over may be:

·        That’s it, I’m out – The person who started the conversation says it’s over. It doesn’t happen that often, but sometimes whoever initiated a thread will curate the posts and, when satisfied with (or frightened by) the outcome of the discussion simply say “next topic” or something similar.

·        OP absconditus – The hidden originator. If someone starts a conversation online, either via an interesting or inflammatory statement or fact and then abandons the thread, the topic could be dead before it gets going. The community can move the topic forward without the originator, but where’s the fun in that?

·        Time will tell – There may be a zombie apocalypse coming, but there’s no reason to create zombie threads in social media. If people stopped commenting two days ago, it’s safe to assume anyone who’s already involved in the dialogue has moved on and may not be interested in resurrecting an old topic. Some issues won’t die though. If there have been comments within the last 12 hours or so, keep it going if you’ve got something to add.

·        Closure happens – Similar to an interview, open ended questions and statements lead to more digging and information exchange, but a closed statement doesn’t require your two cents. Look at the last few posts in a thread. If they seem to bring the conversation to a close, listen to Paul McCartney and let it be.

There are definitely other ways to tell it’s time to move on, but these should help you navigate the social media discussion. What do you think – what are some of the ways to tell a topic is dead? Tell us via social media. You can leave a comment here, on Facebook, Twitter, or send an email through our website.