Social media has in more recent times proven itself to be an important tool whether in

trying to build a large company, a small business, or even building a personal brand. Social
media has grown to be far more than a tool to scroll through in order to occupy the mind.
Businesses and individuals can utilize this tool as a strategy in order to build communication,
relationships, and establish a reputation. Social media is changing the business landscape and
redefining how businesses communicate across their channels of distribution and with their
customers. A recent survey of 399 random European and U.S. firms indicated that 88.2% of the
firms had begun to undertake social media initiatives, and nearly half of these firms (42.1%) had
fully integrated social media into their business strategies. (Insites Consulting 2011). Being
savvy in social media can help not only remain in connection with an audience but has been
proven to be a valuable skill in various industries. Etiquette in a social media forum is essential,
as you are visible to coworkers or a larger community base. The potential to turn connections
into prospective clients or business is important to maintaining professional behavior online at all
times. Conversely, not having the knowledge and skills associated across various social media
platforms can be a hindrance to productivity and the ability to gain respect. Following simply
rules and guidelines and abiding by each social media platform will yield not only respect but
gain influence. Social media allows a platform for your presence to be known and abiding by
rules will minimize inappropriateness and allow the positivity of your message shine through.
Social media is meant to engage and following a few simple steps is the key to effectively
engaging an audience.
Maintaining your true identity is a valuable tool not only in life but in social media it is
probably one of the most important skills. The internet is place where many believe they can be
whoever they want to be. This virtual world can lure many into presenting themselves as who

they would want to be and not who they truly are. Embracing who you are and allow your
personality to shine through establishes your credibility. It is never a good idea to use someone
elses identity. Just because you are shielded behind a computer screen or smart phone does not
mean you have the authority to be someone else other than yourself. There are entire television
shows dedicated to people who fake their identity and this is something that should simply be
avoided. Always being aware of the context in which you are speaking is also an important rule
that was stressed within the particular module. If a message is made to be private be vigilant to
ensure that all parties privacy is being upheld. On Monday, Anthony Noto, the companys chief
financial officer, appeared to accidentally disclose some confidential corporate strategy plans on
Twitter itself. Per Kevin Roose, a senior editor at the cable channel Fusion (and a former
DealBook colleague) (Merced, 2014). In this particular event we can see that even the CFO of
Twitter made a huge mistake and ignored this rule. Instead of sending a private message to
another party and monitoring to make sure he was speaking in the proper context. Having the
mindfulness of this skill would have saved the CFO the embarrassment. He never stated who the
message was intended for but perhaps his mistake cost him a great deal of money and
jeopardized an important relationship. Whether for personal or business purposes it is important
to be genuine as all social media can play an important role in business or professional
relationships.
Many believe just because they are viewable on a social network they are transparent to
their audience but sometimes this is not the case. Being transparent is integral to keeping up with
integrity and etiquette on social media. It is important to keep in mind that whatever is online can
be seen or searched. For example, if you are a YouTube makeup blogger and company sends a
product, it is very important to state that to maintain the integrity. If a product is sent to you or

you are being sponsored you are most likely not going to give the utmost honest opinion there is
cloud in your judgment therefore it is important that the audience knows this. When it comes to
business, it is important that if you partner with another company that you have it be known.
Disclosing your sponsorships and relationships will keep you transparent in the eyes of your
audience. There is nothing worse than not divulging information and then it calls your integrity
into question. Ultimately, transparency leaves no room for your identity or reputation to be
subject to questioning.
Often times many people join a site and when it comes to that particular sites terms and
conditions they scroll through just to be able to satisfy a requirement before being able to click
continue. Every social network has their own particular rules and regulations. Being
knowledgeable about the rules and regulations is very important. Taking the time to read through
the rules allows you to not only know what your rights are on each site but will ensure that your
social network is abiding by those rules. Governments also ask Facebook to take down posts. In
conjunction with the updated community standards, the company published on Monday its latest
transparency report, which discloses country-by-country information on government requests for
user data and the removal of content (Goel, 2014). Even the social networks have to remain
transparent themselves. It is important to not only understand the guidelines but to know that
everything regarding social media networks are readily available. For example, it is important to
know that government can make requests regarding posts on social media. Being knowledgeable
about these guidelines allows for constant awareness of social media guidelines and regulations.
Respect is an important factor in this public forum and reading through those rules and
regulations will allow certainty that your social network is doing all it can to respect that public
space. Companies today have to draft their own policies regarding social media. It is important to

always be mindful of what your companys policies are. Some companies may ask that you
refrain from all social media. Some companies will ask for complete and utter confidentiality on
social network. When establishing your own business this important to keep in mind when
adopting rules and regulations within your own organization. When in doubt of what your
companys social media policy it is important to communicate with Human Resources to ensure
that you are following the rules. Playing by the rules is vital to social media networks.
Listening is an important skill that ties into social media. It is important to listen actively
to what is occurring on social media because the benefits it provides. Monitoring your social
media regularly is extremely important. Everything that occurs in social media is happening in
real time so it important to keep on top of what is occurring. Actively monitoring social media
can keep you relevant. It is important to know what trends are occurring or perhaps what
everyone is talking about. If you are working as a blogger is important to know what everyone is
talking about or what is trending so that you can provide content that is interesting and
newsworthy for your audience. Listening to the conversations that occur on social media will
ensure that you know exactly what is occurring without misinformation. Listening allows you to
keep up with your audience and ultimately you will be able to contribute to the large
conversation. Relevance is extremely important in knowing what content to push out and will
allow engagement in all aspects.
Social media is meant to engage an audience. The most amazing thing about social media
is that you could engage with anyone anywhere in the world. we uncover the positive effect
of consumers social media usage on retailer loyalty. Social media applications enable firms to
provide real-time updates and information on products and promotions, which provides
advertising for the firm but also helps maintain top-of-mind awareness of the retailer or firm and

can lead to greater loyalty. Through social media, people also can interact with each other and
across the supply chain. Such sociability makes social media seem like an immediate extension
of the retail or supplier firm. (Rapp, 2013) Social media allows engagement between even big
business and consumer. Providing engaging information can link even a big business with their
audience. This in turn will increase loyalty and product awareness. Anyone can write anything
but in order to make an impact it is important to participate in meaningful conversations. If you
are promoting your brand you may think it is important to constantly push out your content. It is
much better etiquette to participate in two way conversations. Followers is important to growing
a business or even building your personal brand so it is important to participate in harnessing not
only your message but theirs as well. One way content activity has actually been proven to lose
followers. Share not just words but visuals as well. It is also important to be mindful of the
pictures you share. Be mindful of the content you are sharing and this is especially important in
photos. Sharing a picture of you at a barbeque dancing on a table after a few tequila shots will be
a hindrance to your image especially if you are trying to build your professional reputation. For
businesses sharing photos of a memorable moment or important aspect of your business can
really help to build audience engagement. Everything that happens in social media occurs in real
time so once it is out there it is impossible to erase. The timing is not only important for
mindfulness of what you post but is also important in terms of responsiveness. When having a
conversation on social media is important to respond in a timely matter. The expectation is that
everyone is constantly attached to their social media in one way or another so responsiveness in a
timely matter is important. Letting a conversation linger or die out can be considered rude.
Engagement is the key so keeping the conversation going is the ultimate in rules and goals.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T is the final and most important rule in social media etiquette. Social
media allows a platform where you can be free and talk about pretty much anything. While the
benefits of social media are great there is also much room for misinterpretation. Being constantly
aware of what you say and how you say it is extremely important. What one person deems as
appropriate another person may find flaw and ultimately write it off as inappropriate. Keep an
open mind to what others say and it is important that if you do something wrong that you take
responsibility and make retractions and apologize. In the case of Justine Sacco, she issued a
tweet that said,Going to Africa. Hope I dont get AIDS. Just kidding. Im white! Justine was on
her way to South Africa and never thought that with her 177 followers anyone would see her
tweet. Little did she know her tweet that she meant as a joke became the number one trend on
Twitter. Had Justine been respectful she could have avoided this huge faux paus, which cost her
everything. She later issued an apology, which is what is proper to do in such a circumstance.
This is my fathers country, and I was born here, she said in the statement. I cherish my ties to
South Africa and my frequent visits, but I am in anguish knowing that my remarks have caused
pain to so many people here; my family, friends and fellow South Africans. I am very sorry for
the pain I caused (Southall, 2013). Justine took the correct measures to remedy the situation, as
it is very important to respond to the problem using the same social media source. According to
Lochridge (2011), it is important to address the crisis initially in the same channel where it arose.
That is the only way to gain control. If its a YouTube video, the company should respond with a
YouTube video as well Justine made her error on Twitter so reaching the same base of people
was the perfect communication strategy. It is important to own up to your mistakes and that can
be seen by her actions.

Integrity and reputation is important so therefore if someone compliments you or your

business, avoid over amplifying. Oversharing of compliments can come off as bragging and will
not yield the best views from followers. Ultimately social media is about using better judgment.
Avoid bombarding your audience with unnecessary content and give credit when its due.
Social media is a valuable tool for building a large company, a small business, or even
building a personal brand. Businesses and individuals can utilize this tool as a strategy in order to
build communication, relationships, and establish a reputation. The potential to turn connections
into prospective clients or business is important to maintaining professional behavior online at all
times. Conversely, not having the knowledge and skills associated across various social media
platforms can be a hindrance to productivity and the ability to gain respect. Following simply
rules and guidelines and abiding by each social media platform will yield not only respect but
gain influence. Social media allows a platform for your presence to be known and abiding by
rules will minimize inappropriateness and allow the positivity of your message shine through.
Social media is meant to engage and following a few simple steps is the key to effectively
engaging an audience. In social media it is important to be yourself. Embrace your personality
and be aware of the context. Transparency is important to maintaining integrity so lay it all out
for your audience and disclose relationships and sponsorships. Each social network has rules so
it is important to abide by not only their rules but your companys social media policies as well.
Listen deeply and actively, monitoring networks frequently. Engage your audience and be
respectful in the process. Being savvy in social media can help not only remain in connection
with an audience but has been proven to be a valuable skill in various industries. Etiquette in a
social media forum is essential and abiding by guidelines will ensure the best possible social

media experience whether your goal be for personal or business gain. Whether it be internet or
real life, manners never go out of style.

References
De La Merced, M. J. 2014, November 24. Twitters C.F.O. suffers a social media faux pas. New
York Times.
Goel, V. (2015, March 16). Facebook clarifies rules on what it bans and why. New York Times.
Retrieved from http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/03/16/facebook-explains-what-it-bansand-why/
Insites Consulting (2011). Social integration survey, unpublished data set, Ghent, Belgium.
Lochridge, L. (2011). Dealing with A social media crisis. Florida Grower, 104 (12): 34.
Rapp, A., Beitelspacher, L. S., Grewal, D., & Hughes, D. E. (2013). Understanding social media
effects across seller, retailer, and consumer interactions. Academy of Marketing
Science.Journal, 41(5), 547-566. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11747-013-0326-9
Southall, A. (2013, December 20). A Twitter Message About AIDS, Followed by a Firing and an
Apology. New York Times.