After having spent some time around social networking sites here are a few things I have learned.
You have different types of people and they have different agendas. Some people seem to think that anything commercial is bad, this is not what social sites are for. Some seem to think that spamming these sites is OK, Thats what they are there for, right?
I think the the word social networking is a misnomer in many instances, sure Facebook is a social site, but its also used by many as a business networking tool. As a method of keeping your teams up to date, can it be beaten?
Digg, Reddit et al are referred to in that genre as well, but the most popular information available on these sites is anything but social. Its normally news or tech. That makes me think that social is the wrong word to use.
The new kid on the SA scene is SA Blogger. On day one the most popular post was a political news story, hardly social is it?
But back to the point of this article, Social networking can be good for your business if you become a part of the community. Some communities will reject you without thinking about what you have to offer but a lesson long forgotten, that needs to be revived is the art of lurking. In the old days in IRC people would join the chat rooms and lurk until they understood the dynamic of the room. Only then would they start taking part. I think this would be a good strategy for some of the smaller social networking sites.
I recently learnt about the unwritten rules propogated by the community. On one Social networking site self submission is frowned upon. In fact it is not frowned upon, it is actively targeted and killed. The lesson here is that sites that have that type of mentality and membership for want of a better word will implode.
They chase away new people with their attitudes and superior knowledge. Noobs need guidance not heavy handedness. It’s amazing throughout the history of the net, noobs have been sneered at by supercillious all knowing old timers. Strange how quickly they forget that they were also noobs once upon a time. Fortunately not all old timers suffer from this niche superiority complex and some noobs will survive the initial hazing and stupidity.
Lets make today, “Be nice to a Noob day” shall we.
Tags: Ettiquette, Social networking