Social Media Etiquette
I was recently asked by a Realtor publication to contribute to an article being put together on Social Media and how agents just getting started could use it effectively. After some noodling and refining, it’s pretty apparent that these are guidelines that could apply to anyone seeking another avenue to stay in touch. So here are Tony’s Guidelines for Social Media Etiquette.
- Participate: If you are going to join a network by all means participate. Your keystrokes are your voice. It’s how people get to know you. Stunning good looks and prior reputation will not get much attention in a medium of this nature. There are superstars everywhere.
- Play Nice: Negativity does not get much mileage in this environment. Blocking/hiding/unfollowing are so easy to do if someone is annoying.
- Add Value: Give more than you receive. Respect and attention/retention is given, not a given. In the end, people will communicate with and converse with those who offer value to the community.
- Be Real: We are all multi faceted individuals with different characteristics that attract others. Be that multifaceted person. Single focus folks don’t last. People who are all business all the time will be turned off by the community they are trying to attract. Remember, it is a SOCIAL medium.
- Participate: Spend time, stay with it and participate regularly. Be a presence in the environment you choose to be involved in. I had a colleague at a former firm I worked with follow me on Twitter. He has double digit followers and follows a double digit number of people. Has Zero updates – i.e. no comments, no interaction. Ask yourself how much value is that agent going to get out of Twitter?
- Be Two-Way: Interact, reach out and touch those in the social community you are involved in. If you blog, read others related blogs and comment. (Be sure to leave your real name and web/blog link – good Google juice) If you are on Twitter, tweet in response to others tweets. Tweet your thoughts on subjects, news items. Don’t block your updates – how are others going to get to know you? On Facebook, let others see you, write on walls of friends, comment on pictures.
- Respect Others: If you disagree with something, that’s normal, comment without flaming. Remember what you put out there builds your reputation.
- Be Social: Act as if you are at a party or networking event. These tools are about connecting with others on a frequent and regular basis. You have been doing this for years in different mediums. Your behavior should be the same here.
- Participate: It takes time and participation for others to get to know you and you them. There are social networks out there for just about any interest. If you join and participate, you will connect with more people. You will build your personal network. You will have fun. You will enjoy. You will get value to the degree you give value.
I cannot stress enough, if you are going to be involved with or choose to use Social Media or networks you have to be involved, you have to use it. It’s really like anything else you join: Participate and give value and it will be returned.
Get geeked out —Naperville bike season is here
The following article appeared in the Naperville Sun, Tuesday, June 9, 2009. The electronic version did not have the picture so I added it back in to give my fellow tweetriders a little love.
Here is a bit more of the backstory on what turned out to be #TweetRide3. I met Tim McDonald (picture taker) aka @tamcdonald, thru Twitter and several Social Media/Networking conferences in the Chicagoland area. We both enjoyed biking and, long story short, tweeted back and forth about it setting times and places etc on Twitter. The tweets were picked up on by several other riders (see picture caption and @williger who could not jpoin us that day) soon a series of rides started to happen in various places with varying numbers of people. On May 9, five of us met at Navy Pier and headed south on the Lake Shore Trail. Rides are still being arranged and you can usually find out about them by just asking on Twitter about the next Tweetride. It’s a great way to meet folks and get a little exercise too. #lbstolose. 
June 9, 2009, Naperville Sun, By Heather Pfundstein, hpfundstein@scn1.com
Can you feel it? The wind blowing the sweat off your arms faster than you can produce it. The handlebars lightly yielding to your requests. The Spandex shorts clinging to the thighs that you kept in excellent condition over the long winter. The helmet that you longed to get out of storage. The sunglasses that keep the bugs from your eyes. The feeling of pavement under your tire.
If you’re like me, riding your bicycle is almost spiritual. It’s not something you do; it’s part of who you are. You’ve longed for this moment all winter long — warmer weather so you can mount your favorite two-wheeler and power it with your own energy. Sure, you ride with others, but ultimately, on your bicycle you are in control — of course, until you hit that rock you didn’t see. Ah the exhilaration.
There are others of you out there, too. Some much more committed than I am. A little thing like pregnancy wouldn’t keep you off your bike. (I, on the other hand, am taking this season off — yes, I’m six months pregnant. Don’t want to chance hitting that rock.)
Others bicycle for the fun of it, for the fitness routine, or to commute to work — all noble causes. Any reason to bicycle is a good one to me.
Here’s what says on his blog about what bicycling means to him:
“Road biking is one of the activities I most enjoy. There is nothing quite like the feel of riding down the road, a slight tailwind, big ring, just being in the zone.”
Riders (left to right), Ken Green, Tony Lazzari, Tom Besore, Leah Jones - all riders from Twitter - in early May in chicago at 71st and Lake Shore Drive on Tweetride3. (picture taken by Tim McDonald aka @tamcdonald).
I know what he means — when an hour goes by without much thought, except the road, your water bottle and your pedal stroke. You get in that groove and you think you could ride forever.
The city thinks bicycling is a good idea, too. This summer a major renovation project on 75th and Washington streets includes an extension of the DuPage River Trail. And other projects around town will extend trails and join up with others that lead to other trails.
The city also wants to make sure bicyclists are riding safely. From May through November, patrolling Naperville police officers will reward young bicyclists who practice good bike safety with a “coupon citation” for a free doughnut from Dunkin’ Donuts redeemable at participating Naperville locations. (So if you ride enough, you won’t feel guilty about eating that tasty treat.
The program focuses on getting all bicyclists to wear a helmet, obey all traffic laws, lock bicycles, and stay “visible and predictable while riding.”
National Bike Month is June, which makes sense since it’s the first good month to get rolling. The city is celebrating it, too, by encouraging residents to ride bicycles for trips less than two miles.
It also is promoting events throughout the month.
Naperville Bike Day on June 15 — Challenge: ride your bike all day for your errands and whatever else you’re up to.
Bike to Metra on June 15 — Commuters who bike to the downtown Naperville and Route 59 Metra Stations will receive a gift bag, coupons, biking information and an opportunity to register their bike on site. DuPage County is sponsoring this event between 6:30 and 8:30 a.m., too.
Bike Month Proclamation on June 16 — Mayor A. George Pradel will proclaim June as Bike Month and the city of Naperville will receive the bronze level Bicycle Friendly Community Award.
Also, visitors who bike to Naper Settlement and show their bike helmets to staff get $5 off general admission during Bike Month — excluding special events.
Yes, the helmet. I know it can be uncomfortable, mess up your hair, impede your sight line and overall look uncool, but if you’re serious about bicycling and planning to ride faster, farther and stronger, then you need to wear one, your child in the safety seat needs to wear one, and anyone riding with you needs to wear one. Demand it! All it takes is one spill, and you’ll know what I mean.
Happy riding — hopefully, I’ll get a few rides in. So, see you in September!
Contact readers’ editor Heather Pfundstein at hpfundstein@scn1.com or call 630-416-5237.
Social Media – What is it and why should I care?
You hear about it more and more lately – social media, social networking, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Flicker, blogs, and on and on. Are they timewasters for kids, cliques for uber geeks, places for people to exhibit themselves, brag or expound on any given subject? The answer could be yes, but I am finding it is so much more, if approached with an open mind.
We are social beings. We like connecting with others, communicating, exchanging ideas, news, sharing experiences, pictures and tidbits of our lives. We belong to clubs, organizations, associations, school groups, alumni groups, churches, all different types of communities. Within the realm of those groups we connect – in real life (IRL ßsocial media term) face to face or via phone and email. We interact for common cause, to achieve a goal, or just to socialize with those we are comfortable with or want to get to know better. Some might even define that today as “Social Networking“.
Social Media, as I view it, is the tool set some choose to use to connect with friends/family/colleagues. I became a Twitter user (@TonyLazz) last December when I attended a seminar on the use of these types of tools in real estate. In the 3 ½ months since then, my Twitter first level sphere has grown to over 350 people (those I follow or follow me). The second order sphere (friends of friends) has grown to over 2.5 million. I follow people in real estate, social media, spiritual folks, positive energy folks, leading edge thinkers like Seth Godin, & Guy Kawasaki. I follow cyclists and conferences like TED. Over the past 3 days I have dropped in via Twitter and other video links to RETS – a real estate technology conference held near Atlanta, and AEI – a conference in Colorado Springs for Real Estate Association executives.
In following people on Twitter I get to know their thoughts, some of their personality, hear about events as they happen – when the plane crashed in the Hudson river in January, I had just been followed that morning by Janis Krum – who sent the world the first photo’s of the plane in the water from his I phone later that afternoon). In following conferences I get gain knowledge and insight that I would most likely be unaware of otherwise, or read about much later. I engage in conversations with new folks, find common interest, relate, and expand my sphere of friends and associates and cohorts.
Steven Hodson, in a blogpost talked about Social Media in this way, “…is a belief that through the use of technology and real openness we could see incredible changes in our society. Social Media allows us to create powerful individual voices that can’t be dismissed the same way that they use to be in the past; and it is with those voices that change will come about.” Is that a little far fetched, or an accurate prediction? No one can really say, yet. For me, it has expanded my universe and knowledge. And that is good. Peace.
(Ok, this went longer than planned and did not cover all that I intended, so….more to come on the subject.)
