With the rising popularity of the social networking
in recent years, the increasing misuse of this tool has been rising almost just
as quickly. If you are one of the people
that find yourself using Facebook and Twitter as ways to argue and insult
others, stop it! Admittedly, yes, I have
been sucked into a few debates myself on Facebook and have learned one
important rule because of those experiences – NOBODY EVER WINS!
It is understandable that 2012, just like any other
election year, is going to be filled to the brim with political debates and
discussions. However, if politicians
themselves struggle to the win these debates on television, what makes other
people think that they would be able to win political debates on the
internet? Do you seriously believe that
you are going to change the political views and opinions of a Republican or
Democrat through a Facebook posting?
Sure, we all have been trapped in fierce crossfire
of debates bouncing back and forth online. However, there are some members of Facebook that have the sole purpose
of engaging cyber warfare with others. Who are these people? They are
the so-called “friends” that never support anything that you do. However, the very second that they do not
agree with you on something, they are always the first ones to immediately
starting pushing your buttons. Do NOT
allow these people to get to you! Keep
in mind that you don’t have to respond to every post on your page or even look at them. You have the option to ignore or even delete
the comment and you always have the choice of unfriending them all together.
So many people seem to forget that a Facebook friend
is supposed to be just that – a friend. If they only jump at the chance of arguing with you or mocking you, they
really are not your friends and need to be dumped.
People that use social networking simply for fun are
free to do whatever they like with it. However, if you are using it for business purposes, you need to focus on
using it more as a tool instead of a hobby. You are still able to have fun with it while, at the same time, always
remaining professional and courteous to your followers, friends and business
contacts.
It is also important to continuously be mindful of
the time that you spend on these sites. Just like with TV, it is too easy to get hooked within Facebook and
Twitter for several hours at a time. Because of this time trap, it will not take long before you are
sacrificing important time that should be dedicated to your business. If you are getting new clients through your
time in the social media world, great! Keep at it, because it only means that all of the power networking is
paying off for you and your business. However, if you find yourself just hanging out like we used to hang
outside the "7-Eleven" as teenagers, then it is time to change your social networking
habits.
It’s
FaceBOOK, not FaceWHINE
In 2012, Facebook seems to be evolving into
Facewhine with millions of members finding new things to complain about almost
daily. Even though it is extremely difficult
to stay positive, try your best to stay away from this growing trap of
negativity. I admit that I have been
guilty of complaining about my Minnesota sports teams many times, but I assure
you that I am taking medication for that! (lol) Besides, can you blame me? So you see, I too need help with this
problem.
The purpose of this blog is not for me to point
fingers just at everyone else, because I am also guilty of doing the same
thing. Whenever I write or type things
out, I am able to have an accurate perspective of my own thoughts and
actions. Isn’t that why people use
journals and diaries in the first place? These tools help them to improve in many different aspects of their
lives.
Share
the Space & Avoid Suspicious Postings
Make sure that you are not hogging the room on
Facebook. For example, when you go to a
party, you definitely do not want to hear from the same dude all night long,
right? Of course not! You want to be able to engage and communicate
with the other guests at the party as well. Social media works the same exact way. Multiple posts in the same day from the same person can literally drive
a person insane, especially within the Facebook group pages. There are times when there may be several
people posting on these pages every single hour. Everybody else that may want to post a link
or start a topic shy away from doing so because of the excessive number of
posts being published by those same people. Back in kindergarten, we all learned the importance of “sharing with the
other kids”. That same principle can
easily be applied in social networking as well.
If you notice an unusual picture, video or any other
kind of attachment, NEVER open it. Facebook has been susceptible to viruses, spam and phishing lately. When these posts pop up on your page, hide or
delete the postings immediately and alert the member whose page those links
were found on. More times than not, they
had nothing to do with that posting and probably aren’t even aware that it is
on their page in the first place. If
this happens to you, immediately changing your password will often resolve the
issue.
In conclusion, please remember that social network
marketing can be a fun and enjoyable process as long as we use these tools in
the way that they were intended to be used.
