Archive for November, 2011

There’s a predictable science to pissing off your friends and other users on Facebook. Unfortunately, many have mastered this art with jedi-like precision. This post shares 9 practical tips about how NOT to annoy your friends on the social networking giant.

1. Use @Name and Photo Tagging Wisely

A couple things worth mentioning here. Doing this is sometimes ok if it’s real and genuine. It’s fine to mention a friend’s name in a thank you, if you’re quoting something they said, or re-posting information, etc. It’s not ok to tag them and put a link to check-out your website / fan page if you’ve just been accepted you as a friend.

If you’re going to tag another person in a photo, don’t do it if they look like they just got out of bed! Be respectful and think whether you’d want someone to tag you when you’re not at your best. Remember, every @name or photo tag will post on their wall or in their pictures for all their friends to see. You don’t want to unintentionally embarrass your peeps.

2. Don’t Add friends to Groups Without their Permission First

I’ve spoken about this before.  It’s one of Facebook’s worst ideas thus far. It really doesn’t matter what cause your promoting or spreading awareness about, if you add someone to a group without permission you risk getting deleted / blocked by the user. This is just rude.

The right way is to send a message to the friend you’re looking to invite and politely ask them if they’d join your cause. Maybe give them some background about it and why you feel it’s important.

3. Don’t Spam and Post Links on Personal / Fan Page Walls

This is one of the most common things you’ll notice on Facebook. Other companies, brands, and marketers posting promo links on other users and fan pages walls. This is done in an attempt to siphon-off targeted traffic but usually backfires, getting you blocked by the user or group.

4. Don’t “Like” Every Post / Status Update

I would guess that every regular Facebook user has that one person that clicks LIKE on every status update you post, every photo, etc… Here’s the deal, though.

It’s a genuinely cool feeling that people listen to what you have to say and give feedback. However, if you click “like” on every single post, that tells users there’s a good chance you’re not reading every post or listening to what they’ve said!

Personally, I don’t like every post enough to click the Facebook link even with some of coolest people I respect, follow, and consistently turn to for advice. It’s unnatural. That’s just how it is and most people are similar.

5. Don’t Place Links in Friend Request Messages

If you send a friend request to someone with a promo link in your message, your acceptance rate dramatically plummets. You look self-serving and not really interested about who you’re connecting with. Don’t do it.

6. Don’t Reply to Mass Broadcast Messages

We’ve all seen these. Sometimes it’s inevitable but spammers get onto your friends list. Then, they send a mass message or general broadcast to a few hundred folks, then those people reply to all. ARGHHH, Charlie Brown!!

Sometimes this mindless chatter goes back and forth and practically fills-up your Facebook inbox. In my book, these individuals just won a ticket on a high speed train to the town of Deletion!

7.  Don’t Invite your Friends to Play Games / Apps Every Other Day

Come-on, now! Be respectful of your friends and understand the apps that you’re playing before allowing them access. Some have settings you can turn-off to be respectful to your friends and others do not.

I don’t want to play Farmville or Mafia Wars so stop inviting me and blowing-up my news feed!

8. Don’t have a Cluttered Wall Full of Junk

I see quite a few brands and prominent public figures that allow any old thing to be posted on their wall. This is suicide because it detracts from the message of the company. It’s real annoying to visit your favorite public figure’s page, then have to sift through a bunch of crap on the wall to find what they had to say.

Moderate and filter what you allow on the wall. Do it often, too! If you don’t have the time, then hire someone to manage it for you.

9. Comment on your Status Updates as Facebook Users Respond

I don’t care how famous you are, or if you’re a company as large as Apple. The worst thing you can do is post something, then get 1,000 comments and likes, then never comment on that same post where so much interaction has occurred.

If brands and celebs consistently did this one thing alone (actually engage full-on), they’d build so much more good will with their audience and dramatically boost their revenue.

No one likes to comment where there isn’t any feedback by the fan page owner. People also don’t like to feel like there’s no one listening on the other end. This is pretty common sense.

Listen, one of the keys to profitably kicking-ass with social media is to treat your personal friends, business page fans, and follows like you treat people offline. There are certain rules to good communication and rapport building but for some reason many ignore them when it comes to meeting other Facebook users.

Always be courteous and considerate toward your audience.

QUESTION: What do others do on Facebook that annoys you the most? Leave a comment below and let the community know.

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