4 Social Media Mistakes People don’t Realize they’re Making

by Joe Stampone on April 6, 2009

As an active participant in social media there are a few mistakes that I see over and over again. The thing is, most people don’t even realize they’re making a mistake. Disclaimer: These are mistakes that I see most often, there are countless other common mistakes, but these are the least obvious.

1. Don’t add a contact on LinkedIn or a friend on Facebook without a personal message. It only takes a few seconds, but it will make a world of difference. When getting connected let the person know where you found them. “I saw your article on LinkedIn, thanks for the great advice.” Something simple is all it takes. Remember, social media is simply being social online. You wouldn’t become a friend with someone without first introducing yourself. Also, if you’re an active Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn user, add a link so they can connect with you across platforms.

2. When talking about a commonly discussed topic on Twitter be sure to include #hashtags. Adding hashtags not only makes you look like a savvy Twitter user, but it also serves a purpose. Hashtags are like tags on Flickr, they allow users to easily track activity on a given topic.  Check out http://hashtags.org to see a list of the most popular #hashtags.

3. This one may be up for debate, but I’m going to say it anyway, do not automatically import your tweets into Facebook. Okay so I know Facebook has made some changes recently to become more like Twitter and most of your tweets are suitable as Facebook status updates, but the fact remains that Facebook is not Twitter and therefore, it should be treated differently. Here is my reasoning behind this:

  • The Facebook newsfeed is not set up for back and forth conversation. Twitter on the other hand, is. That’s why Twitter has an @reply page. Facebook is set up for discussion around a single comment, hence the “like” or “comment” button under each status update.
  • People do not sit with Facebook open and follow the real time updates like they do on Twitter. It’s easier to do this on Twitter thanks to applications such as Tweetdeck.
  • When you use someone’s name on Twitter, such as @joestampone1, it automatically acts as link. I hate nothing more than opening up Facebook on Friday and seeing #followfriday @danschawbel @missycaulk @nik_nik @cyberhomes @guykawasaki @garyvee @Ribeezie @tcar @kimwood @successfool. Although these are great people to follow, having them appear in my Facebook news feed is useless because they are not links to each persons Twitter page.
  • Facebook status updates are not searchable.

If you have an interesting link to share or simply want to share what you’re up to, I think it’s worth taking the extra few minutes to update both your Twitter and Facebook accounts. I think your friends will really appreciate it. That being said, there are some major social media players who do automatically import their tweets to Facebook, this is simply my opinion and I’d love to hear what other people think on the subject. Keep in mind that this all depends on how you use Twitter. I personally have my friendfeed update into my profile. So if anyone wants to check out exactly what I’ve been up to online, here is it: http://profile.to/joestampone/. Update: This is now easier than ever with the new version of Tweetdeck. All you have to do is simply check or not check a box to determine if your tweet is also added to Facebook.

4. On LinkedIn do not post on a discussion saying “I’m looking to expand my network, accepting all requests.” By doing this you may gain a few connections, but what you should be looking for are relevant connections. These are the connections that may lead to mutually beneficial relationships in the future. On any social network, the number of followers doesn’t matter, it’s the number of people who listen to you. In Seth Godin’s book Tribes, he talks about this notion of 1000 true fans. “The leadership today is about 10 people bringing you 100 and 100 bringing you 1,000. When you have 1,000 true fans, then they’re the people who are going to turn it into a movement. Not you. Your job is to take care of and feed and nurture those 1,000 people, and those people need to go to their network of people who know them and trust them, who eat dinner with them, and bring them in. It’s not for you to somehow beam your message to strangers and convert them, because you can’t convert strangers anymore.”

This rings true in real estate as well. If you’re a small brokerage, make sure that those 100 or 1,000 people are satisfied, because they’re the ones that are going to vouch for you and lead to greater business.

I hope that everyone take this advice into consideration and as always, just join the conversation and add value. What social media mistakes do you see most often?

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  • dianeschubach
    I agree with all of these except for the twitter /facebook connection. I see your point, but it's frankly so convenient.
    Something that I thought was a mistake I'm starting to re-think. Some people only tweet or use facebook for one topic. I used to think it was annoying until I actually needed information about that topic - I knew where to go.
  • Diane, thanks for your comment. Being an older post I'm not sure that point
    still applies, as Facebook and Twitter have made significant changes since I
    published the post. Friends lists on Facebook allow users to easily sort
    their friends into groups such as family, close friends, professional etc.
    Therefore, if you like to use Facebook in the same way you use Twitter,
    that's fine because your friends can add you to any list they want.
  • Excellent info Joe! I absolutely love all the social networking opportunities out there (maybe a little bit too much!) and definitely appreciate that you are willing to share your knowledge. There is so much to learn and finding a site or blog like yours that helps narrow it all down is a huge time saver. Keep it coming!
  • Jennifer, thank you so much for the kind words. There is definitely a ton of opportunity in social media as long as you're using it to build relationships. I can tell by your site that you're doing all the right things.
  • Thanks, I didn't realize I had a choice about having tweets show up on Facebook. I still don't quite understand hash tags.
  • Nicely done! While I agree that hash tags are important, overuse of them is really annoying. Those that use them should make sure that the hashtags are targeted and meaninful to the post. Also, as conversations progress, the hashtags might morph. As you reply, be sure if you take the conversation in a different direction, you adjust the hashtag.

    just my $.02

    Sean
    www.intranetexperience.com
    @seanrnicholson
  • Sean, thanks for your comment. I completely agree, hashtags are certainly misused. As Twitter becomes even more mainstream maybe the use of hashtags becomes futile. I think this has the potential to be a blog post in and of itself. In the long-term I think hasgtags are important to smaller more concentrated groups trying to track a conversation.
  • NMPacella
    Joe,
    Thanks for the info. I am still not sure I understand the purpose of hashtags, what they stand for. Always more to learn.
  • Thanks for the comment. The use of hashtags is probably less important, but I think it's something people overlook. By using hashtags, it simply categorizes that topic and allows other users to easily search tweets covering the same topic. For example, if I click on #linkedin, all the articles about LinkedIn will automatically populate. Hashtags may be even more critical for smaller groups. Say you're trying to organize a tweet-up in NYC and you establish the hashtag #nyctu. Now you can easily see when anyone discussed the NYC tweet-up. Otherwise there is no way to track when people are discussing the NYC tweet-up because they wouldn't use that exact term within each tweet.
  • Joe,
    I like the site redesign; much more organized and professional looking.
    Also, I couldn't agree more with #4 above. It broadcasts a true lack of understanding of how to actually use LinkedIn, and cheapens the idea of connecting. Basically, one is saying. "I have 5,999 people on my profile I don't know or listen to, do you want to be number 6,000?"
    I would be interested in hearing how many connections people think are ideal on Facebook/LinkedIn/Twitter. Perhaps that is a topic for another post or survey.
    Andy
    1016architecture.com
  • Andrew,

    Thanks for the kind words and for keeping up with the blog. I have some more changes in the works such as facebook Connect (instant community), it's definitely a work in progress. You're absolutely right, everyone is worried about shear numbers.

    I wonder if there is an ideal number, I think it depends on the person. Obviously for well-known people (@the_real_shaq) it's the more the better. For me, I'd rather have 1 that listens to what I'm saying vs. 1,000 who don't. The key is building up the people who care, and that takes time.

    Not sure if you're following it, but I think you'd be interested in the whole using the Empire State Building as a test case to unveil a new process for analyzing and retrofitting existing structures for sustainability. Seems like there is a lot of opportunity there.
  • Great stuff Joe. Thanks.
  • You did a great job explaining these different aspects to social media and the mistakes people, many times unknowingly make. I just posted this to my profile on facebook to pass along your words of wisdom!

    I will be staying tuned.

    All the best,

    Lori
  • Lori, thanks for the comment and for forwarding along the article. I really appreciate it. Your blog looks cool, what a great concept.
  • Hi Joe,

    Great blog article and completely agree with what you are saying. As a beginner in all of this I have found this useful but frustrating at the same time. I learnt seperately about how to use the #hashtags today but their website kept crashing so couldn't get any real information on relevent groups/hashtags and whether any already existed. Any idea on this?

    With regard Facebook, I have always resisted from a personal standpoint but will soon create a profile from a business perspective.

    Completely agree with you on the "Tribe" point - cannot believe the amount of people who must just work everyday on increasing their followers - whoever they maybe. Just cannot get in the mindset of these guys as it must be so time consuming

    Thanks for the Tweetdeck by the way - just started using it. Fantastic.

    James
    http://twitter.com/jamesdearsley
  • James, thanks for the comment and your continued support. You make some very valid points. With regards to hashtags, I only use them on major topics such as #linkedin #followfriday etc. There are just too many to keep straight. Hashtags.org has been having issues all week, hopefully they get it straightened out soon.

    I personally only maintain one Facebook account, but I know lots of people who separate their personal and business accounts. This is all personal preference, I use Friends lists which allow me to keep professional/friends/family all separated. Facebook has extremely high business potential, I recommend you do a google search on "Facebook for business" and read up.

    I agree 100% on your point about people only concerned on followers. I've been using www.budurl.com to track the number of clicks each link that I tweet out is receiving. This is a great way to see how many people are actually listening to you and finding your info interesting.

    I also recommend that you add a photo to your Twitter account, check out this article from Seth Godin's blog that he posted yesterday: http://budurl.com/SethG
  • Fantastic article! I have been auto-updating my Facebook profile with my twitter posts, and most of the time I go into Facebook to delete them because I know it's annoying. Thanks for the tip. I am going to change that setting right now!
  • Kaly, thanks for the kind words. Automatically importing your tweets into Facebook can work, depending on how you use Twitter. Often times, however, it doesn't work and just becomes extremely annoying. Facebook has made some great changes, but must be used differently than Twitter. Another point that I didn't mention is the fact that on Facebook you can't go back very far into the archives and you can't search updates. Just two more reasons why facebook is vastly different from Twitter.
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