Are you a social media friend or foe
Social media friend or foe
For those of you who have got to know me, you will be very much aware by now that I am a stickler for social media etiquette as illustrated in many of my previous posts such as ‘A key tactic when your content is shared on social media’
In my opinion, far too many lose sight of the word ‘social’ when using social media. They rely on autoresponders to send messages to followers on Twitter and use auto-scheduling software such as Hootsuite and Buffer to post out messages but then fail to check in to reply to comments or questions.
Well Jeeves, it simply is not good enough.
And now there seems to be another abhorrent trend doing the rounds. This has become apparent on Facebook where certain people feel the need to send a personal friend request to some poor unsuspecting victim to then, once the friend request has been accepted, automatically add them to a group without their permission only to bombard them with sales messages.
Jolly bad practice!! And personally, I think Facebook should look into banning it.
I am selective as to who I accept as a friend as I prefer to keep my personal and professional life separate. But on occasions, where I have built a relationship with someone in a group, then yes, I also will accept them as a friend.
But if they are then so rude as to add me to their group with no explanation or introduction it just illustrates to me what an unprofessional person they are and one that I never want to do business with. They have used an unscrupulous practice to entice me as a social media friend under false pretences.
Due to my selectiveness with my friends, this has only happened to me on a couple of occasions but I know of others who have been bombarded with newfound ‘friends’ not only adding them to wholly unsuitable groups but also posting on their own personal walls!
This is the height of bad manners and I suspect started from some low-level MLM pundit or desperate business coach (and before you start I am not anti-MLM, far from it as there are a few very good companies out there). It is exactly the same as me accepting to meet a new friend for a coffee only to be taken completely unexpectedly to a timeshare talk. Not the way someone should treat a friend in any way, shape or form.
Which are you? A social media friend or foe?
If you are an offender and guilty of this practice may I suggest you cease it now? There are far better ways to market your services and this is not one of them. You will only end up getting yourself a bad name and believe me, bad news travels fast.
