DISQUS

It is amazing that we are all so concerned with the issue of friending/unfriending...I find myself talking about this quite a lot...posted about it on more than one occasion. Funny, in non social media life, most of us would know how to handle a situation where we don't particularly like someone. Yet, something about social media makes it difficult to know what to do...maybe just the unfamiliarity of this new form of communication.

I don't send out ANY information on ANY social media platform that I wouldn't want the world to know...so it doesn't overly concern me if I don't know all of the people that friend me on any app. I always screen for obvious spammers/hyperactive marketers and I unfriend if I find someone is unpleasant to me or if I just don't groove on their general info stream.

The thing to remember is that none of us really know what this social media thing is...we don't have norms in place that say this is ok, that is not. Subsequently, when the craziness of life happens, we are unsure of how to handle it. We are building this as we go, folks...

It's one thing to twitter search for keywords, then chose to follow...but just adding random people to your follow list is against the culture of Twitter. I can see a brouhaha coming about this app...

Thank you for sharing these tips...I hope that new twitterites will read up on your suggestions. I just finished a two part post on Twitter tips...one of which was on following and unfollowing. It is amazing how many of us have become focused on the numbers of people following us and on needing to know why and when they unfollow. To me, it is about content and the folks who want to read what I have to say will follow. Why should I be offended if they leave? It isn't a personal rejection, more like a channel changing...

And is this discussion really any different than it was before blogging? It is always a balance of personal vs business branding. When a company hires a high profile person, they are banking on what that person brings to the table...Their visibility, connections,etc, are what makes them a great candidate...that's all personal branding...and that belongs to the employee...

Their personal brand is sometimes the only career insurance these folks get...firing the person at the top (especially if you aren't uber famous, just locally famous) is easier than firing anyone else. Your brand is what ensures you can get another job.

I have several social media clients that I help manage their social media campaign. I do talk about them on my social media shouts because sharing the cache helps increase the rate of their success...but they do not take over my established connections...hell no...those are mine!

And the relationships and visibility we build in between will benefit both of us in the end...

This sounds like a really cool resource. Thanks for sharing it...will dive in when i get a minute...

Excellent list...love that it is centered around building relationships...truly the only way to ensure sustainability. It is called "social" media for a reason. I am currently creating a method for linking a company's strategic plan to their social media efforts. Find it helps reduce the black hole factor...as in "wow, it is 3 pm and I haven't done anything but tweet and plurk!"