Seven Golden Rules for Facebook & Co

SOCIAL CODE OF CONDUCT

By now, Social Networks are part of our daily routines like the cup of coffee in the morning. In the past, if you wanted to stay in touch with friends and family or wanted to track down old acquaintances, you had to grab the telephone handset or hire a private investigator – Thanks to Facebook, Google+, MySpace & Co. these days are definitely over!

But as with all social interactions there are behavioral codes: Who ignores them can ruin his image faster than a loose lipped politician.

It goes without saying that you have to refrain from using insults, racist remarks and random threats of violence. The Internet forgives and forgets nothing, that’s a fact. This is why you should keep an eye on personal information and correct conduct. For many employers it became a routine part of their evaluation of future employees to check the social networks to make sure they got the right candidate. See below some very important codes of conduct.

1. Use Your Real Name

At least in business networks such as Linkedin or Xing you should avoid using pseudonyms. I know that this probably causes an uproar with people who are really conscious about privacy concerns. But the use of nicknames such as “cuba_libre” or “bangkok_john376” is unprofessional in the professional world. Not to mention that it makes it harder if not impossible for potential employers or business partners to find you. There is also the big advantage that you think twice before posting something online when you use your actual name.

2. Keep Your Cool – Insults and Abusive Language are Taboo!

Did you have a bad day at work? Is your inflexible department chief going on your nerves or did you get criticized by your boss? Everyone is frustrated every now and then, that’s normal! It’s not normal though to blow one’s steam off on social networks. Never forget that social networks are more or less public! You wouldn’t be the first one who’s lost his job because of rash comments on Facebook. Ensure that it doesn’t get personal when you express your opinion. Especially when you come back from the pub on a Friday night and had a few after a hard week in the coalmine, better go straight to bed and don’t log in to you preferred social platform.

3. Be Careful with Pics and Vids

If you use your Photoshop expertise to paste your bosses head on the body of a monkey, please don’t post the resulting artwork online! It will be only funny until your boss gets tagged by a jealous co-worker. Also do not get too enthusiastic about video content – Not everybody can laugh about everything! On one side it’s great to have pics of yourself posted on Facebook, Myspace & Co, but pay attention to what these pics project and who else is to be seen on them.

4. Release Information targeted

Use friends lists (on Facebook) or circles (Google+) to filter who sees what. There is also the possibility, if this is to complicated and time consuming, to create different profiles on the same platforms for private and official use. 

5. Arrogance is out of Place on Social Networks

“Be humble” my parents and grandparents used to tell me; to be honest, they had a point there! But there are many users who think that this rule doesn’t apply to the internet and its social networks, To continuously boast with your successes and (existing or imaginary) expertise is not well-received by most other users. If for example somebody posts a question in a forum, the “use the search feature”-answer or RTFM (use the search featureJ) is not only rude but outright offensive. If the question was posted and answered before, guide the new user to the respective thread and do not offend him/her, OK?

6. Be careful with Online-Dating Sites

Online-Dating is either a great thing or a total disaster. Most of these sites are built similar to Facebook but the big difference is the profile pics. The picture on dating sites is in average 10-15 years old. If you follow this trend and also upload ancient photos because you looked more attractive 20 years ago, you might get more response but the actual date will be rather short. In each case you have to be very careful with dating sites; do not give up too much information about yourself and realize that not everybody on these sites is there because they seek eternal love or a lifetime companionship.

7. Always keep your Job in Mind

It’s none of your bosses’ business what videos, pics or comments you post online? WRONG! Let’s say you have direct customer contact and the said client knows you by name…. this and many other facts you should always keep in the back of your head because to a certain extent you always represent the organization you’re working for.

You don’t want to ruin your image or provide too much information to data collectors, do you? My advice: keep you digital footprint as small as possible. You don’t have to be registered on EVERY single social network! Keep your personal data organized and don’t divulge too much about you. Use your common sense and think about if you can still stand behind what you post today in 5 years from now. Always apply the golden rule: think first, type later! Because the internet forgets nothing……

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