Social Media Rules: What not to wear!

Social Media Rules

I know, there really are not any rules, not written at least but there is a lot of unwritten ones that you should know. I mean SM is not a new thing, Facebook, Twitter, Blogging have all been out long enough that grandma is doing it so the "I didn't know!" line just doesn't work anymore. 

The first thing you should think about is WHY you are on SM. If you are a business or author you will want to do things different than a mom who just wants to chat with family and friends. If you just want to keep in touch with friends and have fun, might be a good idea to only "Friend" people you know. If you are an author like me or are looking at SM as a way to market yourself you should "Friend" anyone related to your business. 

Once you know WHY you are on SM you can begin. 

Be smart, and be a good neighbor. Bring back the tool you borrowed, don't play loud music at 2 a.m. 

First rule and the most important IMO is: DON'T COMMENT ON EVERY POST! This is a good way to stay out of trouble. Posts involving government, God, family, and justice can get heated and just because you don't agree does not mean you have to butt in. Stay out of it, your advice is not needed and it will only get you angry or worse. 

This is the problem with SM, you ready for it? 

"We were not designed to know our friends and families every thought on every subject." --Aaron Patterson

We see our friends once a week, maybe a best friend four times a week and our family every day for part of the day. In a lifetime we may never know what they think about Tuna fighting, Breast feeding or hear a crude joke come out of their mouth. SM shows us everything, the bad days, the night you got drunk and had your phone, nothing can be hidden anymore. You have to remember, if you find out something about a person you love and it is a bad thing, cut them some slack, you have things they don't like and before SM we would never know. 

Another good rule is: DON'T POST YOUR EVERY THOUGHT/DRUNK POST OR OPINION ON EVERYTHING! In a word, Shut-up. No one cares, really. We look through posts and pass over yours most days. So be fun and light, enjoy your SM time and don't use it to push your agenda. 

"Your opinion is just as important as mine." -- Me again

We live in the American Idol generation. We all think that what we think matters. We vote on shows, call in and gripe on the radio and everyone on FB jumps when we whine about something. But the truth is, you may be smart to you and your mini friend list but there are more people out there who think you are stupid and ignorant. So it is al fair... in love and SM, lol

Authors and other pushers: STOP POSTING CRAP ABOUT YOUR BOOK OR PRODUCT: Again, no one cares. It is annoying and shows your lack of skill in marketing. Post or tweet now and again but don't beat people up. If you post it all the time I will put you on the Not to read list!

DON'T POST ON MY WALL! Does my wall look like your personal banner? Do you really think I will see the link to your book and be HAPPY about it? Oh and a follow-up on this is people with an auto respond when I friend them or follow them on Twitter with a link to their product. #Lame

One more rule that seems to be hard for people: DON'T AUTO TWEET! Really, we all know you do it, we see through it and we don't respond to it, so maybe not do it?

SM is a conversation, join it or go away. Don't post and run, it is pointless. I don't care how many people follow your blog, if it does not get people to interact you are just more spam. 

These are just a few, the rest you can figure out. If you keep it light and stay out of fights you will go a long way. Hope this helps and that you got a laugh out of my spunky nature this morning. 

Later

--Aaron

Author Aaron Patterson: Blog: The Worst Book Ever.