Well, I just had to remove another Facebook friend, because the person in question couldn’t leave a status update without using the F word. And . . . she is a woman. Go figure??? I’m certainly not a prude. I was a theatre major in the ’70′s and have been in the film industry for over 30 years. I’ve seen and heard everything. I’ve even done some of it. Whoops! Have I just revealed my age. I’m actually 28 . . . . twice. I often cringe when I read some of my son’s status updates. He is overseas. His buddies, who represent the good ‘ol US of A have a bad case of potty mouth. I can’t remove my son though. I want to see what he is up to! LOL!
The way you project yourself when you are business networking is critical. Hopefully without sounding like the social networking police, here are a few tips:
- Cut out the potty mouth or I will wash your mouth out with soap! Just kidding. In my opinion, the overuse of potty lingo gives the impression that you are not clever and may not be too intelligent. Your mother, aunt or Santa Claus may be watching. Also, many people do not know proper English. Can I axe you somethin? He don’t know how to eat a hot dog.
- Learn how to spell. Spell check doesn’t always work. Using words like your, you’re. They’re, there or their are often used incorrectly. I happen to know several very successful people who cannot spell worth beans. However, if you didn’t know who they were, you would wonder.
- Don’t be a one note bloke. I know a guy who leaves phenomenal quotes on Facebook. Unfortunately, that’s all he does. You never get to know anything more about HIM. Mix it up. Engage in the conversation.
- Maybe – What is it? It means you are incapable of making a decision. I vote to ban MAYBE from Facebook events. Make a decision and don’t be a weenie!
- Don’t put your company name in front of your own on a personal profile. Uck! What if your company goes down the toilet. You are YOU!
- Upload a great picture. Now, for those of my age group, what is it with putting up your high school picture? You don’t look anything like that anymore. You have wrinkles. Be proud of them, or start using skin cream. Also, your dog is cute, a symbol is nice, a plant is a plant, but they are not YOU!
- Subjects to avoid – Politics, religion, sex and sports. OK, I personally don’t know much about sports. But, some people get crazy if you talk about the other team. If your mind is on sex, get a room.
- Be positive. No one wants to know you are a bummer. Be encouraging, helpful, interesting and kind. If you feel the urge to vent, go take a bath, get a message, or go soak your head.
- Soap Boxing. You can’t mention hamburgers without an animal activist chiming in. I LOVE animals and I love hamburgers. I can’t help it.
- Be nice. Guess what? When you leave a negative comment on a site, such as meetup.com it will usually get hidden and you will be removed. Especially, if what you said is unfounded.
- Get off auto-pilot. Are your Tweets or FB shares on automation? I know you don’t want to spend all day on social networking sites, but if your status updates are automated, it means you aren’t there and aren’t listening. A nice welcome message is OK but otherwise, be present. A good time to tweet is when you are in a waiting room, standing in line, or killing time. That means I have to get a fancy phone. Yikes!
- Share the love with the rest of the world. If you see a post or comment you like, share it with others. Click the share button, Re-Tweet, Social Bookmark. You are spreading good karma throughout the world and it will come back to you in a good way.
See the Re-tweet and Facebook share buttons at the top of this post. Feel free to click them. Spread that karma. I would appreciate it. Also, those fancy social bookmarking icons on the bottom are really cool. Give one a try. Have a beautiful and prosperous day!
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About Rebecca Olkowski
I'm a 30 + year voice over actor, blogger, WordPress Blog Consultant and a gal who loves to have fun. I'm on a mission to travel the world in style. Can you give me a lift?
