Social media etiquette is a set of unwritten rules or guidelines that companies and individuals use to preserve their reputations online. They serve to protect your personal or brand image while enjoying the fun of social media.
Today, many social media users don’t care about their social media reputation. They share content that may destroy their repute or make them less authentic for clout-chasing. This goes on until they eventually realize that social media activity can matter in critical times of pre-employment evaluation, or when running for a political position.
Just as social etiquette dictates how people behave around others in the real world, social media etiquette revolves around online guidelines to follow. Hence, I want to share with you some social media etiquette that will protect you and/or your reputation online.
The Basics of Social Media Etiquette
Social media etiquette differs from one social media to another. For example, reposting someone’s content on Instagram will necessitate more care and caution than when reposting someone on X. But there are general rules that apply to all social media platforms.
The basics of social media etiquette involve being respectful, cautious, official, and mature while you play and have fun. It is similar to what happens in our everyday life. You want to live your life without breaching other people’s boundaries in the process.
Why Social Media Etiquette Are Important
Social media etiquette is important because it can help build your reputation and brand. This benefits you personally as well as your business.
Companies are beginning to look into social media etiquette before taking employees because they realize that social media is an important avenue to promote their company’s image, especially in this age when the internet and social media are an integral part of business activities.
By looking into your past social media activity, an employing company tries to assess if your presence on the team will not ruin its brand image or reputation. This is why it is extremely important to adhere to social media etiquette as you will see next.
Social Media Etiquette You Should Know
Here, we will explore specific social media etiquette you should know and follow as you engage and create content on social media. For universality, I will break them into three sections: social media etiquette for personal use, for professionals, and for a business entity.
Social Media Etiquette/Guidelines for Personal Use
If you just want to cruise through social media and have fun posting and engaging with posted content, here are some etiquette you should know and observe to protect your digital reputation as well as avoid unnecessary quarrels with other users.
Failure to adhere to some of these rules will make people view you as unpleasant, insensitive, or anti-social. Your account may also be flagged and eventually banned in the process.
1. Don’t share overly personal information
Sharing overly personal information on social media is both unsafe to you and disturbing to other users alike. Unfortunately, many social media users do that regularly without knowing the consequences.
Social media is not the best place to air your dirty laundry. Even if you have a personal conflict with someone, social media is often not the best place to share such information or openly talk about it.
Sharing too much personal information can also be disturbing to other users. Most users turn to social media to let out steam, and they would not want to get there to see somebody’s personal problems to start thinking about.
2. Be polite
Politeness is important in cyberspace because the screen is the only contact other users have with you. No one would understand if you are simply joking or if you meant your actions. Hence, it is important to stay polite as much as possible.
Using words like “please, kindly, sorry, thank you”, etc, can help defuse tension in a social media space. Even when you are trying to point out an error, do so in a polite manner. You don’t always have to agree with every opinion you see but you also don’t have to talk rashly to other people while on social media.
3. Recognize that your sense of humour is not universal
Sense of humour is not universal. Unless you send a private message, your social media posts will be seen by people who come from various backgrounds. What this means is that you should be cautious about how you throw humour around as it may not be acceptable to people outside your friends and family cycle.
Sometimes, the distance and the person’s mood might make a joke come out as off. You should also avoid joking with rather sensitive content, as you may be seen as being insensitive.
That is not to say that you cannot use appropriate humour in your posts on social media; but just make sure they are well-placed in context, vocabulary, and expression.
4. Don’t overuse hashtags
Not overusing hashtags is an important social media etiquette for personal use you should know. While hashtags are useful for finding content related to the topic of your choice and can boost your content reach, it can make your content annoying, unserious, and inauthentic when you use them too much.
Use a few hashtags per post. There is no hard and fast rule about how many hashtags one can use per post, and certain situations will necessitate using more hashtags than normal, but in general, avoid overusing hashtags on social media.
5. Don’t tag someone without prior notification
This is one common mistake most social media make without realizing that it is wrong. Avoid tagging people you don’t have a close relationship with without letting them know prior. If you don’t like it when others tag you in unwelcoming content, photos, or videos, why do the same to others?
If you want to tag someone, especially someone you are not very close to, ask for their permission first, or post the content with the caption “Tag yourself” to encourage others to do the same.
Social Media Etiquette Guidelines for Professionals
LinkedIn is the most popular social media platform for professionals. However, these social media etiquette apply to all social media platforms you belong to as a professional.
As a professional (teacher, lawyer, doctor, etc), that is if you represent your profession in your profile, you have to be guided on what you can post, and how you should post it.
A misguided tweet on X or a careless Facebook post, for example, can put a dent in your professional career. There are countless cases of people who lost their jobs simply because of what they posted during the weekend on social media.
1. Keep your readers in mind
If you identify as a professional on your social media, you need to deliver appropriate content to your readers. Posting extraneous content not related to your professional status can make your audience lose interest in your brand. You should consider creating content that is useful to your readers and answers their problems.
2. Be careful not to post personal information
It can be challenging balancing your public presence as a professional and as a regular individual. Your image as a friend or family member is occasionally likely to conflict with your professional image. However, you have to try to balance the roles you exhibit. Avoid posting personal information as a professional.
3. Avoid sharing the same content
Every social media is unique in its style, type of content, and mode of sharing. As a professional, you should understand that every type of content does not work well for all social media platforms.
For example, images and video content are better on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. If you predominantly write text content, understand that you don’t need to share the same content across the board every time. Be consistent with a given type of content on social media.
4. Post content of high value
Another way to keep your readers happier and excited to see your post is to continuously post content related to your professional niche. Value should be your number #1 priority when posting as a professional. You should not be caught posting content that does not hold value as a professional.
From time to time, you can post content that is not “too serious”, but the majority of your content should be impactful. And if you are looking for a way to post casual updates, consider creating a separate personal account to post personal content.
Social Media Etiquette/Guidelines for Business
Social media etiquette for business has some slight variations in the allowable use cases. You should know that the primary purpose of a business social media account is to promote your business or sell a product/service. To get the maximum reach, you should stick to these social media etiquette for businesses.
1. Be authentic
Before you proceed with your business account, ensure you fill out the required information after signing up for a new account on social media platforms like X, Facebook, etc. You don’t want your business to appear as something it is not.
Upload your company logo, enter your company’s contact information and all you think people should know about your business. Be authentic. Don’t try to be something else.
2. Think carefully before you post
As a business entity or personality, you should always post insightful and engaging content. Considering the type of content you want to post is an important social media etiquette to know.
Avoid being too overly promotional. Avoid messaging your customers directly asking them to buy your products. These will make you unprofessional and annoying.
Make your content insightful and valuable, not just a bunch of promotional content. When users see that you are providing value in your content, they are more likely to engage with them or purchase your products/services.
3. Be timely with your posts
Unlike personal accounts, you want to keep your customers and audience in the loop with your business account. Be timely with your posts but don’t over-share as well. If it is once or twice a week, be consistent with the routine.
You might also want to turn to automation to schedule your posts in advance and automate other aspects including analytics and response. However, you should also try to avoid over-automation as some things will definitely still need a human touch before posting.
4. Be wary of using too many hashtags
Similarly, you should also avoid using too many hashtags for your posts. Most social media platforms allows you to tag over 10-30 hashtags to your post but that does not mean you have to use all 30 slots.
Also, you should refrain from using popular but non-specific hashtags that are not relevant to your audience. When you see a trending hashtag related to your business, promptly jump into the trend while offering insights and value to your audience in the process. Hashtag etiquette is an important one for your business.
5. Avoid direct antagonism with your competitors
You should treat your online competitors with respect and avoid engaging in a condescending way. That can have a negative impact on your business brand. Thrashing others in the name of competition is not a sign of honour and integrity. Instead, demonstrate respect for other companies and businesses in your industry, while also showcasing your strengths.
6. Avoid plagiarizing digital content
Social media etiquette demands that you need to have a right to post content on your business or official page before you do so. When people see that you are a copycat, it can affect the authenticity of your brand.
If you have to use someone else’s content, don’t do so without providing credit to them. This can also help prevent legal issues in the event that the original owner decides to take it up legally.
7. Choose your platforms
Not all platforms are suitable for all types of business. While it may appear tempting to try them all, you should resist the urge and stick to the platform best suited for your business services.
Focusing your efforts on the best platform will ensure that you don’t wear yourself and your team out in producing content but that you can deliver quality content by doing so.
First, you have to think deeply and choose which social media platform would be best for your business page.
