Social media etiquette

It’s important to be polite, helpful and avoid annoying your followers on all social networks. Each individual social network has different rules and etiquette, largely based on how people use those social networks.

Here’s a social media etiquette guide on how to avoid offending, upsetting or annoying your social followers:

Facebook

The stats

• 757 million daily users worldwide
• 250 - The average number of friends Facebook users has

Etiquette:

1) Don’t post lots of statuses all at once – It is important to update your Facebook account regularly, however if you are planning to post several times in one go then don't. Ensure you space those posts out over a few hours. 

2)Respond to all comments – No matter what, good or bad you should always respond to comments.

3) Be social 90%, promote yourself 10% - Many estate agents wrongfully use Facebook as a property listing site. Facebook is a social network, so be social. Entertain, inform and educate your audience first, then every now and again promote your business.

4) Don’t post on other business pages asking people to like you. It just seems desperate and drives people crazy.

5) Limit hashtags – limit yourself to one hashtag on your Facebook posts.

Twitter

The stats

• 100 million daily users worldwide
• 46% of Twitter users use it at least once a day

Etiquette:

1) Limit hashtags – you can get away with using more hashtags on Twitter, however too many won’t do you any favours. Limit yourself to two or three.

2) Respond quickly – Twitter is fast paced and users expect fast replies. Try to respond to all comments and questions as fast as possible.

3) Don’t share too much personal information – this is a business account, people aren’t following you to find out what you had for lunch.

4) Don’t use all 140 characters – ensure you keep your tweets short, allow space for people to retweet.

5) Stay positive – too much negativity will lose you followers

6) Profile pic = logo – only use your logo as your profile picture.