The story is told of William Horman, a school principal at the Eton School in London, who released a book titled ‘Vulgaria’, Latin for ‘everyday adages’ or ‘common sayings’. In this masterpiece, he captured the phrase ‘Manners maketh man’ which among others, speaks to the subject of politeness and civility. As you would have it, there are many other writings that suggest that the phrase existed centuries earlier, but certainly, I wouldn’t have you worry your head about that. The subject of ethics considers what is good, bad, right, and wrong. This is related to etiquette which looks at the customary code of polite or acceptable behavior in society.
Social media looks like a no man’s land, it almost looks like it is not governed, but if you are a regular user or now learning to adopt any digital marketing platform for your business, it will excite you to appreciate that traditional concepts of manners, ethics and etiquette have their extensions and applications online.
In digital marketing and social media, there are sometimes unspoken rules that regulate perspective and thinking on how to appropriate the platforms by essentially engaging people in the right way. If someone has found offense at a message you slid in their DM or inbox, then you certainly understand what I’m driving at today; or perhaps you made a comment on a post that raised a fiery furnace on you? This material is customized for you!
Doing business has rules; there are many articles and books on certain dos and don’ts in business. Same way every country or locality has its own legislation, it becomes prudent for you to know what the laws of each country say so you do not offend the powers. While in certain countries a 16-year-old may indulge in certain practices, it takes a person of 18 in another to be permitted to do the same thing in their land. Thus, if this child of 16 migrates to the other country and does not know the governing rules, he or she may falter without even realizing it. This thought is equally captured in the subject of ethical relativism.
Social media and digital marketing operate with the same concept; it’s a territory on its own – you need to understand what is permitted and what is not. By doing this you exempt yourself from any needless blunder and your stay and usage on your choice of digital platform can be seamless.
I’m attempting to let you appreciate this concept without stressing you much on the many years of insight provided by Greek Historians including Socrates, Plato, and Herodotus. With your kind permission, however, let’s consider a few fundamentals briefly.
In the subject of ethics there is the appreciation for Meta-ethics, where ethical principles or universal truths come from; Normative ethics, which articulates good habits that we should acquire together with duties we need to follow as well as the consequences of behavior; Applied ethics, which is often within the parameters of rather debatable subjects such as animal rights, homosexuality, and environmental concerns.
How do all these matters to you as a business person using social media? Well, digital media is an extension of what we do; or rather, it is the same people who observe these traditional laws who have migrated to these platforms. Therefore, a proper blend and understanding of these rather basic concepts will guide you into conducting yourself appropriately online. Whatever you engage in the digital world is taken into consideration since it is also seen as a shared community thus making conversations or social interactions very keen.
For instance, an understanding of applied ethics will guide you on how to make comments about a particular group of people. Respect for women and children is a big thing and so you cannot make unfounded comments about these groups online and expect advocates to speak in favor of your brand. Same way, there are representations of special groups who may be your clients and will unfollow you, if your comments seek to attack them. People have lost brand deals for their unguided posts on social media.
Articulating good habits in normative ethics and appreciating that without asking permission when you take a person’s item, it can be considered as theft, you will certainly have respect for and therefore credit sources from which you pulled a post from and will not share a post you captured on someone’s wall as if it is yours.
You begin to appreciate that helping people within your digital community is a very important value. You don’t only think of making money off people; you become more solution-oriented. You are thus cautious of becoming aggressive in your targeted sales so you don’t become a nuisance to others. This could relate that you should not only think about the gains but in addition, make provisions for all situations whether good or bad and keep your audience or customers at heart by tracking interactions and being helpful to them where the need be.
By now I’m sure you are calling yourself a Philosopher, maybe a digital philosopher. Before you graduate in this digital philosophy major let’s touch again on Meta-ethics, where a person or business understands that digital platforms are founded on behavior It becomes all-important to understand the dynamics of Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter and the other platforms. While each of these social platforms is distinct, you need to know that LinkedIn is generally more to a business audience, Instagram will thrive more on images and videos whiles Facebook permits you to be extra casual. While at this, appreciate the source and ownership of these platforms; the regulators. Facebook and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg have successfully acquired or had mergers of over (eighty) 80 social media connections including Instagram and WhatsApp.
Welcome to the graduation ceremony. Our keynote address has four (4) important take-homes you will like to consider:
Hashtags (#)
Hashtags are critical and helpful when you use them well. When you use the right hashtags, your material pops up when people search for those hashtags. The statistics of hashtags can inform you about which one to use per post. Hashtags increase the visibility of your posts; when you use a hashtag, your post and its contents say images or videos are cataloged making it accessible to prospects who have not even connected with your business before. While for instance, Instagram may permit you to use about 30 hashtags per post and 10 per story, a minimal use tidies up your post a little. Hashtags should rather be used carefully and strategically say not always popular ones although you could be sure lots of people come into contact with them. They could be chosen in such a way that it could represent the millions, hundreds of thousands, tens of thousands, in that order to be able to reach the right audience. Hashtags are the surest way to help in the gaining of an online presence.
Tagging and broadcasting
Tagging is a way to introduce or identify someone to a post. It notifies users that you have referred them in your post, story, or status update. Tagging could be beneficial on Facebook and Instagram. When you tag someone, your post could appear on their timeline or collection. Tagging helps where users will appreciate the content made and make positive reactions like reposting or sharing with others or to give a high reach to others. Despite the merits, tagging should not be done to disturb your audience or be regarded as noise to users but rather it should be done to people who will appreciate them and make useful contributions. Broadcast messages on whatsapp help to deliver the same messages to a wide array of people. At the same time, sending frequent messages without the consent of contacts could be sometimes destructing and considered spam. The privacy of people count in the digital world and should highly be respected
Swag on
Don’t make your status boring, vary the things you share on it. It’s advisable not to share the same content repeatedly on your various platforms. It sucks! Don’t bore your followers and prospects, even when the intent is to communicate the same message, be creative about each post you make. Take advantage of all the relevant tools such as location, tags, and others in the status or stories section to spice your content up. You should be dynamic and updated trying to be innovative to find new ways in order to make your digital material or content better to tailor your niche.
Dit la Verite
Talk true. The French say ‘Dit la Verite’. Be authentic in your dealings online. Be truthful, don’t fake to be an expert on a subject you are not. In an attempt to have an appealing bio, please do not mislead your followers by telling us what you are not. In addition, you should by all means not edit pictures or videos and insert yourself in places and locations you were not. Sincerity and openness are important foundations on all social media platforms. This does not only go for personal brands, startups as well have our share; if you know your business does not or cannot deliver a particular service stop going under people’s posts and inboxes when they need a vendor, only for you to take the order and frustrate yourself and the person. Stay true to yourself, your brand, and your business deliverables. So yes, you are not yet a Doctor (Ph.D.) of Social Media!