Proper Social Media Etiquette to Remember in 2014

Social media can be a powerful tool that people use to express their feelings and to share life experiences with relatives who may not reside locally. The content users share ranges anywhere from personal opinions to pictures of what they are about to eat. Many users can probably agree on one thing that is consistently seen on their social media feeds and that is the friend that tends to over share way too much personal content. Although these rules are not lawfully written, in 2014 everyone should be aware of proper social media etiquette.

Facebook over-sharing

It is a safe bet that a majority of the people who post on Facebook are not thinking about the content of their message before sharing it with everyone. Just because we are friends it does not mean I want to know every meal you are about to consume or how different your child is from the pictures of them already posted the previous day. Although these photos, inspirational sayings and political messages are being seen by friends, not everyone wants to know the minute details of your life. Before posting something, it is important to ask if the content is something you would feel comfortable sharing with a room full of strangers.

Questionable Connections

The connections we make on social media are normally done with people we have had some form of interaction with face-to-face, but at times we also accept requests from complete strangers or people vaguely remembered. LinkedIn is a social media tool where the connection we have with people could help us advance professionally. Invitations to connect on LinkedIn should be treated like an introduction at a networking event.

Have an actual conversation

As people become comfortable engaging with others on social media, it is important to remember the value of an actual conversation. There are people out there that think problems can be solved through a long chain of email or text correspondence, but in reality some solutions call for human-to-human interaction. A 10-minute conversation can clear up a problem faster than waiting for a person to reply to each email.

As the rate of content being shared by social media users increases daily it is important to remind ourselves of the etiquette our parents taught us and how applies it to what we share on a daily basis.

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