Are You Wearing Tights?

2009 February 9
by Keeton PR

The other night, my not-quite-three-year old daughter walked straight up to another table in a restaurant and said to a little girl eating with her family “Are you wearing tights?” Except for the fact that she was, indeed, wearing tights, the question was totally out of the blue.

Neither of the girls thought this was a strange way to start what turned into a little conversation about their clothes, and I had a quick exchange with the father about how charming and friendly our girls are. 

While there is nothing at all wrong with her approach – in fact, I love her straightforward friendliness – I have a feeling it will change as she learns the finer points of social interaction. But I have to say, I can relate to her more than she knows.

As I navigate my way through social media, I feel like I’m learning the unwritten rules of interacting with people all over again. Should I re-tweet something, and if I do, what’s the right way to acknowledge the original “tweeter?” Should I direct message someone who complimented me on Twitter, or is it better to Tweet my “Thanks!”?  If someone follows me, how obligated am I to follow back?

There’s a teeny, tiny portion of the population out there that knows the rules inside and out. They’re the one’s responsible for molding them. But if you’re a little unsure, trust me, you’re not alone. 

Take this guy, a PR bigwig who insulted his client, FedEx, on Twitter. Interestingly, he hurled the insult from the airport on his way to present to them about digital media in corporate communications. This guy is one of the so-called experts.

Turns out, the advice I give my daughter, myself, and those of you testing the social media waters are the same: be nice, get in there and make friends, and help those who know even less than you do. After all, everyone who is good at anything was once a beginner.

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1 Comment leave one →
2009 February 22
Bethany

Great post! I loved the comparison to your daughter learning the social way of things while you, yourself, are learning the new social media world. Very accurate.

And, I agree it’s best to be nice and also careful not to insult your clients. I saw a tweet from ’someone’ (who will remain nameless) who commented that he just got out of a meeting and his client was completely wrong about something.

I wrote him back and nicely mentioned that he should be cautious making those statements on twitter. He tweeted back: “the client doesn’t do twitter, I’d call them out by name if they did ;) ”.

Well, your example proves the client doesn’t need to be on twitter themselves, for them to easily find out what was said.

My philosophy is to “only state things online that you’d comfortably state in a room filled with acquaintances and strangers”.

Sounds like you are navigating the social media world well, but hope this bit of advice helps. Great post. I really enjoyed it (and tweeted it).

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