Social Media Etiquette: 12 Step Checklist

I love social media. I can connect with others and quickly find out what they're doing. But when I learned some people are now finding out about the death of friends via Facebook, I began to despise the impersonal nature of these online social tools.

The truth is, there’s simply a lack of etiquette many people possess when using social media. I recently had a discussion with Lisa Filpi Goeckler, who has a new social media endeavor with ON Food, a startup in Beverly Hills that partners with fitness professionals and real people offering all-in-one food solutions. Lisa shared a few stories with me, the first occurring a few months ago when she found out about her good friend and co-worker’s death on Facebook.

After seeing a mournful Facebook update from a friend, Goeckler was able to use Facebook to confirm her friend had died of a major heart attack. “I was not keen on the way I found out about the death,” she said. “It seemed so impersonal.”

A few months later, Goeckler found out–also through social media–that a relative of hers had breast cancer. Finding this out via social media–not a phone call–was a disconnected and impersonal way to find out such serious news, she says.

These stories made me reconsider how we use social media. These two incidences were huge life events that may not have been properly handled by being blasted through Facebook posts.

Social media is valuable, but we should teach etiquette to guide people on the best ways to use it. Goeckler says everyone should ask themselves the following 12 questions before posting:

1. Should I target a specific audience with this message?
2. Will anyone really care about this content besides me?
3. Will I offend anyone with this content? If so, who? Does it matter?
4. Is this appropriate for a social portal, or would it best be communicated another way?
5. How many times have I already posted something today? (More than three can be excessive.)
6. Did I spell check?
7. Will I be okay with absolutely anyone seeing this?
8. Is this post too vague? Will everyone understand what I’m saying?
9. Am I using this as an emotional dumping ground? If so, why? Is a different outlet better for these purposes?
10. Am I using too many abbreviations in this post and starting to sound like a teenager?
11. Is this reactive communication or is it well thought-out?
12. Is this really something I want to share, or is it just me venting?
    

Consider these questions before clicking “post.” You’ll be happy you double-checked before making a slip-up public to the world.

(Image courtesy fredcavazza, Flickr)

Ilya Pozin is a serial entrepreneur who founded Ciplex, a web marketing and creative agency, at age 17. Ciplex has been recognized with an Inc. 500|5000 for two consecutive years.

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