Most times I get unsolicited messages from Facebook.
“Hi dear”“Hey babe”“Sweetheart”“Talk to me”“Are you there?”“Xup”
“Xup” is one word I have not understood and what kind of response you want from me; it has no meaning. When it is correctly typed out even, it leaves me without an answer.
Messages like these are annoying from people one hasn’t made acquaintances with.
We can’t start our conversation from “xup”. This is how chats like these play out in my head; a young woman walking by a busy street and street urchins making passes at her. A good conversation cannot be started by guttersnipe comments or chats. Sometimes you may want to initiate a chat with someone you have no previous history; it’s doable without the “hey babe” line.
Here are my social media etiquette
1. Do not initiate a chat with someone you don’t know with a fond name. You can’t randomly call people ‘dear’, ‘sweetheart’, ‘babe’ and all. He has a name, she has a name. Address the person by name and spill out all you have to say at once or do a powerful summary. I would never respond to ‘hi’ except it’s from an old friend or someone i know. But if we are yet to be acquainted and you send a full chat stating whatever you have to say, ask a question, comment about a post, or even want to be a friend, I owe you to reply if I am interested in your content. If not, I read it and move on. You have better chances to get a reply if you have not gone too familiar and calling someone you hardly know ‘sweetheart’.
2. Do not upload 50 pictures and tag a friend in it all. First off, why upload 50 pictures of the same event? Were you at MET GALA or OSCARs? I am sure People Magazine would not upload 50 pictures of same event. But when you decide to take a photoshoot with your husband and upload all 50 images in the same outfit (though pretty nice) do not tag your friends. They will come check it on your wall if they are that interested. Imagine if you get 50 notifications from tagged pictures, put yourself in that position, it’s upsetting.
3. Do not tag someone in a post without checking up with them if they are comfortable with it. I have a couple of friends who tag me on Facebook in their status updates, I do not mind. But it doesn’t mean everyone can tag me, I have to keep removing tags, I should take it further and start unfriending and blocking random ‘taggers’.
4. Be nice and respectful. That you are behind a screen, unseen, unknown, is no reason to be rude. You never know who you are tweeting at or who is reading. Your potential employer or business partner may have read your social media contents before meeting you. Remember, what you do on the internet is a reflection of you and you can’t be separated from your tweets. Be positive and encouraging. No one wants to be associated with a negative individual.
5. Dear Twitter family, do not harass anyone for a ‘follow back’. Follow people whose updates interest you or resonate with your values, but asking for a follow back from everyone you followed is not good for your social media brand.
I should do another post on social media etiquette next week. What do you think?