How (Not) to Be Awesome on Social Media

Photo credit: KEXINO on Flickr

Whether it’s Twitter, tumblr, Facebook, Pinterest, Google + or some other form of social media I didn’t mention, there are certain unspoken rules of conduct, that when adhered to make you a courteous, likeable online person and when not adhered to make you…well…not. These rules can very well be the difference between a popular account and an ignored (or worse—blocked) account. It doesn’t seem fair, really, because not everyone is aware of the Rules of Social Media Awesomeness (as I like to call them) that can define your social media presence.

Until now.

For all to see, I have laid out the Rules of Social Media Awesomeness that are guaranteed to make you fantastic (online, anyway).*

How (Not) to Be Awesome on Social Media:

1. Ignore comments/@ mentions. Why spend time answering those pesky comments and Twitter mentions when you could be using that energy to promote your online presence? Honestly.


2. Gratitude is overrated. Did someone retweet your link or share your Facebook post? That’s nice. Your gratitude is implied, anyway. No use in spending precious time and energy to thank people.


3. Spam ALLLLL the people. Now here, here is a worthy thing to spend time on. Send everyone you can a link to your blog or Twitter or Facebook page (etc.). In fact, if you do bother to answer those pesky comments, this is how you want to do it. Speaking of which…


4. Use Direct or Personal Messages to send links (to your blog/Twitter/Facebook etc.). They’re not useful for anything else and you’ll really make someone feel special by gracing them with a personal link to your incredible pages.


5. Constantly remind people to like/follow/add you. If you don’t post on your Facebook and Twitter and tumblr about your other Social Media pages that people should follow at least three times a day, then you’re wasting your time. People forget that you have other pages out there that they should be subscribing to. They’ll thank you for the constant reminders.


6. Be Negative Nancy or Debbie Downer all the time. Because like gratitude, optimism and smiley faces are overrated.


7. ALWAYS TYPE LOUDLY. HOW IS ANYONE GOING TO NOTICE YOUR MESSAGE IF YOU WHISPER IT ON THE INTERWEBS? TYPE LOUDLY OR RISK BEING OVERLOOKED. YOU’VE BEEN WARNED.


8. Leave all of your links on other people’s blogs/pages. I mean all of your links—your Twitter, blog, Facebook, tumblr, Google +, Pinterest, Klout, LinkedIn and Myspace (you never know…they might still use Myspace!)—every time you comment on someone else’s blog or page. On another note, if you don’t have a page on each of those sites, then you haven’t diversified your social media presence nearly enough.


9. Be rude. Hey, it works for celebrities and it’ll make you memorable!


10. Never share other people’s content. Social media isn’t about sharing, it’s about YOU! Never forget that.

So there you have it. Now go out there and be awesome.

*And by “these rules will make you awesome on Social Media” I mean, “please, please, please don’t do these things or risk being very un-awesome on Social Media.”

What would you add to the Rules of Social Media Awesomeness?