When it comes to building personal brands, there’s been much buzz about building your online presence by working on your profiles and the like. I feel that there also needs to be some discussion about the way people interact and “behave” online.
As I said in my post Evolution of Core PR Skills, you need to understand the mores of blogs, micro blogs and social networks and be comfortable communicating in these forums. But what exactly are the mores of social media? They can vary from community to community, and also are influenced by the nature of the community.
E.g on Twitter, it is considered to be acceptable and even desirable to repeat your thoughts and those of others verbatim. Not so on blogs. Status updates on Facebook that are all business all the time might seem mercenary.
While social media and networking offer endless opportunities to have your message heard, it is important to understand that you are making an impression in the process. That impression can be good or bad, and it can be lasting.
How you communicate online says things about you. They may be inaccurate but perception is everything right?
Who are these People?
We all know them; there’s (at least) one in every crowd. You talk to friends, family and coworkers and compare notes, and lo and behold, the same people jump out as irritants.
As networks multiply and more people jump on board the rules of the game evolve. I often caution people to be wary of so-called social media experts (is there some kind of degree or certification program that I am not aware of?).
There’s no single right way or wrong way; different approaches can work for different people. And I don’t want to fall into the trap of being a Social Media Scold, a social networking type (namely, the people who are constantly calling out the right way and wrong way) that I am sure many find irritating.
Then again this is my blog, my forum and I am allowed to spew here about things that irritate me. So, without further adieu, here are some of the types that frustrate me:
Town Criers: These are the same ones who, in years before social networks, felt like they had to update people with endless details about their family and business interests via mass email blasts and newsletters. They are usually all about me me me, all talking and very little back and forth
Name Droppers: These are the flagrant strivers, the ones who feel that the way to elevate their online profiles is to blab about the A listers they hob nob with.
Crypto Fascists: These are the people who trick out their Tweets with so much inside baseball, hash tags, etc. I understand the function of hash tags but there’s a downside to using them. You limit your audience by being obscure, and make your missives harder to read.
Blabbers: The ones who monopolize airwaves
Spammers: (genus Facebookus Spammus): Constantly annoying with pokes, applications, invitations
Blurters: Just spew whatever is on their minds, without much thought to punctuation, spelling or propriety. Frequently these are the same people that share T.M.I.
