Social Media - You Draw the Line

You've finally embraced Social Networking! Now... How do you know who to accept invitations with on these Social Networking websites? Just remember: Social Media is your experience. Your individual experience. You set the rules for your goals, whatever they may be.

I have friends who accept invitations from everyone on LinkedIn, yet only close friends on Facebook.

Vice versa- I have a friend who only connects with people they've done business with on LinkedIn, yet everyone on Facebook. His attitude is that his LinkedIn connections are all people he would refer.

So what do you do? Once again, Social Media is your experience. Draw your lines in the beginning and stick with them. Re-assess in a month or two and see if you need to make changes to your boundaries.

Some points that might help you:

• What do you want out of Social Media?
• Is it primarily for business or personal use? Keep in mind, Social Media, even when used for business is best used when people get to know the person they're dealing with... It's Social!
• What kinds of pictures and updates will you be posting on Facebook? Okay, we all have some pics that we wouldn't want our clients or people at work to see. Can you handle it if a possible future employer sees them and judges you on your party pics? Facebook allows you to restrict access to certain photo albums. Keep that in mind when doing your profile. (Gotta remember to do something with that middle finger pic on Facebook).
•  Are you representing your business on these Social Media Networks, or are you representing yourself as a worker for someone else's company. If the latter is the case, what would they want you posting about the company? Does your company have a Social Media Policy in place?
• If you're on these networks for company purposes, is your goal recruiting, customer service, brand building, sales, PR?
• I never listen to people when they say - "Don't tweet about things like your dog , people don't care". I disagree. Being in sales most of my life, the first thing you learn to gain rapport with others is to establish common ground. There are plenty of dog lovers out there that want to hear about it. It's a great way to get to know them.

If anyone else has any Social Media rules they adhere to, post'em below!