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Welcome back to your second week after going live. One thing to put focus on from early on is netiquette. The etiquette you embrace on social media.

Netiquette basics

On social media there is no concept like off the record. You must be able to stand for anything you say or do on social platform. If you are unclear of if a post is appropriate or not ask yourself a valid question. “Can I defend this post our CEO would call me about it?” This type of self-censorship is your best insurance against problems down the road.

Never type in affect, on social media platforms. Period. Strive to limit your social media engagements to moments when you start in a balanced mode.

Stick to a positive tone in all posts. It is easy to turn to social media platform to bash bad services. But it takes an ocean of positive posts to erase bad impressions from a few negative posts. A good rule is to think about how your grandmother write/wrote post cards. and to stick to a positive tone always.

See social media platforms as being inside your intra-personal communication comfort zone. And use the same language and level of directness you would have used in person. It is easy to see your screen as a barrier between you and your audience. and to believe it soften the strength of your messages. But social media platforms often work to amplify messages. And once something get viral it take you either high up or far down.

I have been lucky to stay out of trouble so far. And the rules above have been my guiding stars.

Connecting on LinkedIn

Your LinkedIn network is the most powerful of all your professional networks. Where you want to create a great first impression. Start by refining your etiquette for connecting well. And to connect on LinkedIn both parties need to opt-in.

An aspiration is to connect on LinkedIn with all people you have met in professional life. The world has shrunk with the introduction social media platforms. And you are connected to everyone on earth by just 4 degrees now. Down from 6 in the past. Be active in responding to professionals reaching out to connect. As well as sending invites to connect. Few if any will reject if you have had a good relationship up until now.

Connecting on LinkedIn first before you met is an option with two main options. Either you accept all invitations. Or you are a bit more selective and connect to profiles that interest you. By suggesting a “Virtual coffee” or “iFika”. Combining social media request with a brief phone call. Making the connection personal from start.

I did for a long time limit my own accepts to people I had met in person. But have recently started to embrace virtual coffees as an option. When I am open to invest a bit of time for an iFika. This help me in developing and maintaining a quality network faster.

Following on Twitter

Twitter differ as following can be on-sided or where both parties opt-in.

The first consideration on Twitter is about how to address professionals following you. Either by following back all or by being selective in following-back.

The second consideration is about how to recognize a follow. Either by posting a personal and hand-crafted response. Or using auto generated thank you responses. The first adds most value. And the latter one is your only real option if you have a fast-growing base of followers.

The third aspect is about how to handle retweets. Thanking the ones retweeting your messages is a great starting point.

I have been sticking to a simple follow-back rule since I started. I follow back all people following me. But be conservative when following back companies. And my follower base has grown to allow me to stick to personalized follow recognitions.

What happen in Vegas stays on YouTube

Is actually the title of a book. Taking you through practical tips. About who to view social media for professional purposes. With my favorite quote of inspiration for pushing your social media boundaries

“We don’t have a choice on whether we do social media, the question is how well we do it?” ~ Erik Qualman

Erik Qualman was one of my largest sources of inspiration early on my journey. Participating in the crowd funding campaign for publishing the book.

Weekly checklist

Connecting on LinkedIn

• Connect on LinkedIn with all I meet in person – sent and received invitations
• Accept all invitations from unknown interesting people after a virtual coffee
• Accept all invitations to connect on LinkedIn

Following on Twitter

• Follow-back some of your followers
• Send an automatic “thank-you for following” to all following you.
• Follow back all people following you

Read “What happen in Vegas stays on YouTube” available as book, eBook or as a brief book review.

Thank you for reading this week’s module. Next week we will look at how you can boost your base of connections and followers. Through piggy-backing of more advanced colleagues and friends.