I always try to use social media etiquette when connecting with people but I don’t know about you, I’ve not always behaved in the most professional manner,

While everyone has their best practices when it comes to connecting with people on the different social networks, I think we can all agree that social media etiquette is important and crosses all the networks.

I remember doing a forum thread on Adlandpro called Social Etiquette, which was very popular by folks and it talked to treating others as you would want to be treated and dealt with online communications.

I realized after getting some friend “invites” on Adlandpro that were at best a sales letter and at worse a spam invite, that maybe it was time to talk about how to get friends and then keep them or maybe a better wording would be how to use good manners when connecting with people.

The fact is social networking is all about building relationships and you do that through communicating. When you send an invite that is a sales pitch, what are you saying about YOU?

Here are a few of my best practices for proper social media etiquette:

Introduce yourself!

” hi my name is — and after reading your profile I find that we have a lot in common” is a great way to say that you have shown INTEREST in the person as a person and not just a list! Think about it!

Give people a reason to WANT to connect with you!

First impressions start with your profile!

Are you using your real name? Yes I know that many people have problems with this, but let me ask you a question… would you rather talk to a real person or some cute moniker? Think about it!

What is your avatar?

Uploading a picture of yourself goes a long way to saying ..hi I’m a real person. If you are a business or representing a business, then uploading your company logo is a great way to be branded. Think about it!

The one time you can be all “about me”

Every social network including IBO/Adlandpro/LinkedIn or any social network site has an “about me” section. What are you putting on there? Most people are misusing it in my opinion. The about me is not to sell anything other than yourself. You can talk about such things as your interests, your likes or dislikes, you can talk about your education, your family. The point of the about me is to show yourself as an authentic person and a great way for people to want to connect with you. No, don’t write a book and you don’t have to get too personal, but let’s be honest, would you rather connect with a real person or a sales pitch? Think about it!’

Be active!

Join a group, join a forum, create a forum talk to people about the weather or something interesting. Make a point of being active and really talk to people. Show people you care and people will want to connect with you! Think about it!

Social media etiquette is not hard to learn and is as important, if not more important than anything else you will ever do online, make a point of learning the right way to connect with people and I think you will find that not only will your online experience be a lot more pleasant, but you will find that you will get more people interested in you.

Bonus:

If you are interested in knowing the best ways to optimize your social media SEO, then I highly recommend you read “How to Optimize Your Social Media SEO by Tim Sae Koo. It’s an easy read and has great information.