Unfortunately we haven't had hundreds of thousands of years to master how to best behave on social media, we've only had about ten. And when you consider that the first half of that time was spent on glittery Myspace pages and trying to figure out how AOL chatrooms worked we haven't really had very long at all.
That's why we still see mistakes. The following is a useful list of do's and don't's that if you're going to be a regular presence on social media you really should learn, or people are going to stop liking you and you won't be getting any good social karma in the future.
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| Tally ho, what what. |
DON'T.
Don't take credit for something interesting someone else has found. There is little more annoying than posting a link to something funny/ clever/ new and then a few minutes later seeing one of your followers has posted the exact same thing without giving you any mention. Sure, there's a chance that they stumbled across this same nugget of excitement all by themselves, but it would be a massive coincidence and probably a lie.
DO.
Do retweet things if you like them. This can be in the form of just a standard retweet or posting the same stuff with a little 'via (their name here)' after it. That makes you look like an interesting person because you're interested in interesting things, but it also makes you look like less of a moron because you've given the finder a bit of the fame.
DON'T.
Don't see a joke, laugh at the joke then try and pass the joke off as one of your own. You, yes you (you know exactly who you are) are going to royally wind the joke creator up and as there's every chance you share followers people will likely suspect you as the fraud you are.
DO.
Do share the joke, do enjoy the joke, do contribute to further joking. If you were at a stand up show you might repeat the jokes you'd heard later, but you'd mention that the comedian had thought of it first. It's only polite.
DON'T.
Don't be horrible. Banter is one thing, ribbing people is fun too, but outright bullying is wrong and bad and no-one will think you're clever for doing it. I give my friends crap all the time but if I ever think I'm overstepping the line I stop. Not only will those friends stop being my friends if I carried on, but I'd also lose a lot of my followers for sacrificing the charm and wit that attracted them to me in the first place. (Shut up, that's exactly why they follow me.)
DO.
Do use social for what it is; a fantastic platform to meet new people, learn new things and share in new experiences. By putting yourself out there as someone who has something valuable to offer you'll quickly see that your follower numbers grow and your engagement grows with it. People will want to hear what you have to say and they'll want you to listen to them too.
And finally...
DON'T.
Don't give One Direction fans grief. They might be hilarious, making jokes about them might seem like a good idea at the time, but when an hour later you're still receiving hate from thousands of pre-teen stalker girls you'll realise that it was probably a mistake and your life is now in more danger than you'd hoped for.
Hopefully that has taught you a few valuable lessons about social etiquette (I really wanted to call it Twitiquette but I resisted, for you) and you can go on to spend the rest of your lives in social comfort.