Etiquette while using social media

As with all human interactions, interacting with clients and the community online through social media can be tricky. Basic good manners apply online just as they do in real life, but there are some issues that need careful management to maintain good social media etiquette. 

One issue that organisations may have to manage is making sure that their content is relevant and interesting to their followers. People who follow a library do so with an expectation that they will see quality content that is in line with the library’s missions and brand, not be bombarded with marketing material and spam. A related issue is frequency of posts. Posting very frequently can be viewed as clutter and spam on newsfeeds – it is important to remember that your organisation is not the only one that your followers are following. The frequency varies depending on the platform – one post on a Business page in a single day on Facebook can have as much presence and impact as several tweets on Twitter. 

In addition to frequency, tone also varies between platforms – some content may be more appropriate on one platform than another, or may need to be more “dressed up” or in a different format. A simple example is the constraints of the tweet character limit requiring a post to be shorter than if the same content were to be shared on Facebook, or a rewriting a post shared on Facebook to have a more professional tone for LinkedIn.

Another issue relates to privacy and credit – using work by others and posting photos of work or people without having permission or giving credit is as much bad manners as it is infringing on their copyright or privacy. This is also true of sharing interesting updates or tweets from other people – finding out where it came from and giving due credit is good form and can help build social bonds online.

There are many more etiquette issues, but many of them boil down to being professional, friendly, and transparent; and prioritising meaningful connections and interactions over numbers of like/follows and selling your brand.

A simple guide to social media etiquette

http://www.moneycrashers.com/social-media-etiquette-tips-personal-business/

A short video and blog post by Hootsuite on social media etiquette

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ootxiibcOWc&ab_channel=Hootsuite

https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-etiquette-rules-for-business/