Everyone is familiar with the line "do unto others as you would have them do unto you". That's good advice for anyone, religious or not. It's also worth remembering when you're using social media.
You can learn a lot about how to get the most out of this medium by monitoring your own reactions -- both positive and negative -- to actions by your followers.
Observe what you like
Recently, for example, I noticed that I'm constantly on the lookout for people who tweet quotes, one liners, and tips. They are often witty, get right to the point, and you don't have to click on a link to see what they're about.
Maybe this is just a bit of a phase I'm going through. But the fact that I am seeking such tweets out means that others must be too. That's why I've resolved to produce more of them myself.
Speaking of tweets without links: I also like it when such tweets are really clear and concise. It's always obvious when someone has taken a bit of time to compose a tweet. Whether it's funny or not, a well crafted, punchy tweet really stands out. Whenever I see them I retweet them. So that's another aspect I'll focus on in future.
Note what you dislike
And here's a negative reaction that I think is worth noticing: I don't like it when someone I've just begun following on Twitter immediately starts requesting or suggesting that I do something such as enter a contest. Fact is I follow people because I hope to learn from and engage with them. It doesn't necessarily mean I'm a paid up, card carrying fan of their business.
So that's something I'll remember to avoid myself. Much better to just share good stuff regularly, have some conversations first. Then when I've got that rapport, I can send some sort of specific request.
I have a similar bugbear on Google Plus. I'm quite happy to get posts shared directly (as opposed to public stream entries) from people I've already made a connection with. But I don't like it when others in my network do this too soon and too often.
For this reason I've yet to use this feature of Google Plus. I just post to my stream. If those in my circles want to have a look, fine. But I'm not doing something that some of them might find a bit invasive.
Birds of a feather
Of course every social media user is different. So my likes and dislikes will only concur with a certain proportion of users. However those people are exactly the kind of people I should seek out. Birds of a feather flock together, as they say. And they're much more likely to support and help each other, too.
You can learn a lot about how to get the most out of this medium by monitoring your own reactions -- both positive and negative -- to actions by your followers.
Observe what you like
Recently, for example, I noticed that I'm constantly on the lookout for people who tweet quotes, one liners, and tips. They are often witty, get right to the point, and you don't have to click on a link to see what they're about.
Maybe this is just a bit of a phase I'm going through. But the fact that I am seeking such tweets out means that others must be too. That's why I've resolved to produce more of them myself.
Speaking of tweets without links: I also like it when such tweets are really clear and concise. It's always obvious when someone has taken a bit of time to compose a tweet. Whether it's funny or not, a well crafted, punchy tweet really stands out. Whenever I see them I retweet them. So that's another aspect I'll focus on in future.
Note what you dislike
And here's a negative reaction that I think is worth noticing: I don't like it when someone I've just begun following on Twitter immediately starts requesting or suggesting that I do something such as enter a contest. Fact is I follow people because I hope to learn from and engage with them. It doesn't necessarily mean I'm a paid up, card carrying fan of their business.
So that's something I'll remember to avoid myself. Much better to just share good stuff regularly, have some conversations first. Then when I've got that rapport, I can send some sort of specific request.
I have a similar bugbear on Google Plus. I'm quite happy to get posts shared directly (as opposed to public stream entries) from people I've already made a connection with. But I don't like it when others in my network do this too soon and too often.
For this reason I've yet to use this feature of Google Plus. I just post to my stream. If those in my circles want to have a look, fine. But I'm not doing something that some of them might find a bit invasive.
Birds of a feather
Of course every social media user is different. So my likes and dislikes will only concur with a certain proportion of users. However those people are exactly the kind of people I should seek out. Birds of a feather flock together, as they say. And they're much more likely to support and help each other, too.
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