The rules of social media

Posted by: Paul Matthews

Rule number one:

There are no rules.

Sure there are ways that you should do things and a lot of ways that you shouldn’t, but for all intents and purposes social media and the law by which it is governed, is not too dissimilar to how we live in the real world. ‘Do unto others…’, build relationships, show respect and generally be nice; all of these social etiquette practices apply online and act as a guide to how we should behave.

If understood, the success of campaigns, initiatives or ideas that people/companies have will rise and fall on the response of the desired recipients: the community you are looking to engage with.

How that is achieved is limitless; the risk is that you can be tried and prosecuted by your intended recipients and anyone else who cares. Of course the ‘social media gurus’ purporting to understand all aspects of the online space and other ‘haters’ out there will tear apart your initiatives, but your target audience are judge and jury.

Rule number two:

There are no rules.

Social media at its very core is about breaking down the traditional barriers between brand and consumer, so why should there be a rule book?

We are all still learning about social media. It doesn’t matter if you’re Scott Monty and you have successfully avoided a potential PR disaster through exceptional understanding of the medium, the organic nature of the online space ensures we will eternally be chasing our tales. Maybe one day there will be justification for a rule book, but for now, experience and commonsense will have to suffice.

There will be mistakes, probably at the expense of a client, but there will be successes too. Advice and rules can only go so far, the trick is to be brave and learn from the experience.