A Lesson in Social Media Etiquette
Thursday, 5 February 2009
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 25 seconds
DISCLAIMER: I am very blunt, sorry if it offends you! I don’t try to be crass, just informative, albeit opinionated. The examples I used in this article are just that, examples! All the names I’ve mentioned are friends (or at least acquaintances) and I respect them all highly, so please don’t think this article is an excuse to bash.
This rant mostly has to do with Twitter and Digg, though any social media practictioners or observers might gleem a thing or two. The title can be read more than one way, so let me clarify what I’m getting at right away: I think people promote themselves too much. It’s too easy for us to promote ourselves too much.
I’ve been thinking lately (that’s the first sign of trouble). Mostly, I’ve been thinking way too much about all the constant promotion and self-promotion we do on Twitter/Digg/other social media sites. A perfect example came up today regarding a new interview with a very popular designer (”Designer A”) on Twitter by another great designer (”Designer B”).
Even though I retweeted the link right away and I dugg the link right away as well, I’ve counted easily over a dozen more retweets and have receieved more than one email “shout” (Digg’s sharing system) from multiple people (sometimes more than once from the same person) asking me to retweet/Digg the interview. An example of the RT:
RT @DesignerB: PLEASE HELP! Digg this article http://tinyurl.com/xxxxxx great tips from one of design’s biggest Twitterers.
This brings up two points:
- It would be nice if there were a system to filter if we’ve already tweeted or dugg something, but that’s for another post.
- It’s way too easy for our self-promotion and promotion of others to get out of hand.
So, let me ask you an introspective question: Why do you Digg? No, REALLY, why do you Digg/Twitter/etc.? I’m not talking about the normal levels of participation which most users take on, I’m talking about those users who choose to forget courtesy (let me be clear, those people are NOT the designers I mentioned above, again that is just to exemplify how easy it is to retweet, shout on Digg, etc.).
Questions to ponder before you share more than once:
- Why do you promote yourself so much? No, really, why?
- Was your first tweet/shout/whatever not enough?
- Does the content you’re sharing really merit that much attention?
- Do you think that people aren’t smart enough to judge your content when they first see it?
Let me point something out:
- If you retweet, you do it for a reason. It’s either a) to help yourself look better and more resourcesful, or b) to help others, through which you make your self look better and more resourceful.
- We all have a tendency to get caught up, it’s human nature. We designers/nerds/geeks/you/me especially have this problem, as the Web provides a constant stream of new things.
- You may not be as special as you think. I’m not trying to be mean, just realistic. You DO have the right to tweet your opinions, but you don’t have the right to annoy others and clog up their Twitter and Digg inboxes.
It’s NOT a bad thing to help yourself (especially not others), it can often be a good thing. Also, tweeting the same thing more than once is perfectly acceptable, as long as you have patience and space out the tweets. Use your best judgment here, sometimes hours are OK, but sometimes weeks are better.
My point is this: we all (myself included) need to start exercising a little more common sense and etiquette on these new services. As my grandpa says, “If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times”: the Internet has morals and ethics, too. It’s a good chance those morals and ethics are similar, if not the same, as the real world.
About this post
It mainly discusses Personal Advice and Social Media.
Filed under: Posts I've written
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Uh.. AFAIK, you don't HAVE TO follow these guys.. If you don't like their style of tweeting/retweeting, hit the “unfollow-button” in Tweetdeck.
Just my 2ct :)
Thanks for your thoughts, Mark. You are quite right, I don't have to follow them (though my drug of choice is Twhirl, not Tweetdeck heh). As for your point, I actually do like their style of tweeting/retweeting for the most part – I consider my own style inspired by their methods.
The point I'm trying to demonstrate is that sometimes we go overboard in promoting ourselves, and I used this scenario to exemplify one way this happens. Sure, we can just say “damn it all, I'm going to tweet how I want to tweet,” but that won't get anyone very far, will it? Of course the gentleman whom I mentioned in this article have thousands of followers, which means for the most part their tweeting habits & methods are on par. I'm just trying to offer up some insight on how we can tweet better so as not to lose more followers in the long run, as the ethics & etiquette of social media are still being decided every day, especially on services such as Twitter which are still so very, very young.
Thanks again for your thoughts!
Also, Mark, do you have any thoughts on the points I presented as far as etiquette, etc.? I'm still very curious as to what others think of these topics! :)
Personally, I think asking for diggs/stumbles/rt's is on the edge of begging. The first 2 services are there to separate the crap from the good stuff. You should Digg/Stumble when you actually liked something, not because you were told. I have to admit, I have asked for Diggs/Stumbles in the past, but not anymore, I guess I came to my senses :)
I still think the unfollow-button is a better friend than some of the people in my timeline..
Interesting article. Covers many points some I agree whole heartedly with, some of course I don't. But needless to say, it's great for someone to come out with these thoughts in the first place. Heck, I do. :)
I agree with the whole DIGG, FLOAT request thing. I don't do it. As tempting as it is to get your post and blog receiving more visits due to the publicity, I don't like asking people to do so. Saying that, because I don't ask, barely any of my posts get Stumbled, DUGG or FLOATED. So that's probably saying something about my post quality. :)
The only posts that I tend to ask for support on are the ones that are 'for other people', ie, SoulTweet. I don't see the problem asking people to help and support worthwhile causes, but I usually only ask for support and RT's.
Regarding Self promotion. I disagree with this. Mostly because I do it ofcourse, but the end results for me are that I can offer bigger publicity for the offshoot projects like Wearejustcreative, Monoexpression, Soulttweet and lovehelvetica.
These are sites that benefit the community as a whole, so in order to publicise them i need to promote them.
There is a fine line, but ultimately, twitter is still a tool to be used how you see fit. If you don't like someones use of Twitter then the old failsafe, get out clause is don't follow. It is that easy.
Same with TV. If you don't like the shows being aired, then you turn over or turn off as they will always be more people liking and enjoying those shows.
It's the minority in these cases that tend to be more annoying than the people they are 'bashing'. I for one will continue to use Twitter for self gain and also to gain publicity for the more community aspects.
As I said, sweet article and gets people thinking.
But, be careful how you critique people or how people in general use a service that is pretty much self governed. 'Your' (not just you personally but generally) acts of criticism can be as annoying for some people as you find the act of self promotion annoying for you.
I have more than enough restraint and self etiquette when needed, but also allow myself to shoot off from the deep end when I so desire.
Twitter by nature is a very public AND personal media, the freedom of free speech is totally applicable here. To criticise how someone else conducts themself is your act of free speech, but also accept that people will generally rebutt against this more than the people who are able to maximise Twitter for self gain, especially in these troubled times.
As a note, ALL my work comes direct from Twitter and other online methods, I will use it how I see fit. :)
Learn to live with it would be my advice, or unfollow.
Graham
Hit the unfollow…. Dnt think much
Thank you for this article; I am new to twitter and found you in a thank you tweet for a RT you and I had both RT'd; you have to admit kinda funny, but I totally appreciate what you are saying. I am a designer (interior) of a different variety and so much of this social media stuff is new to me; I do try to show truth in my relationships and discretion in the balance of my interaction; this is a great post, thank you. jana
Thanks for your thoughts Jana, I'm now following you on Twitter (we'll see where it goes!). I don't offer up certainties, but I sure try my hardest to think through the options, and these posts are usually the result. It's nice to see someone delving into understanding what he/she is stepping into as they explore that new world (in this case, social media, mm mmm good!) Honesty is the best policy, and god knows we could all use a little more discretion online sometimes ;) So keep up the good work!
Graham, thanks for your comments! Strangely, I thought I had replied to you 4 weeks ago when you wrote your original comment. Either way, you definitely have a knack for looking at many different sides of an issue, and boy oh boy did you really get going on this one! Thanks again for sharing your time and thoughts with us all.
Thank you for this article; I am new to twitter and found you in a thank you tweet for a RT you and I had both RT'd; you have to admit kinda funny, but I totally appreciate what you are saying. I am a designer (interior) of a different variety and so much of this social media stuff is new to me; I do try to show truth in my relationships and discretion in the balance of my interaction; this is a great post, thank you. jana
Thanks for your thoughts Jana, I'm now following you on Twitter (we'll see where it goes!). I don't offer up certainties, but I sure try my hardest to think through the options, and these posts are usually the result. It's nice to see someone delving into understanding what he/she is stepping into as they explore that new world (in this case, social media, mm mmm good!) Honesty is the best policy, and god knows we could all use a little more discretion online sometimes ;) So keep up the good work!
Graham, thanks for your comments! Strangely, I thought I had replied to you 4 weeks ago when you wrote your original comment. Either way, you definitely have a knack for looking at many different sides of an issue, and boy oh boy did you really get going on this one! Thanks again for sharing your time and thoughts with us all.