Rule #1: Update every day.
Why you should break it: No one is going to stop following you or unfriend you because you didn’t write a tweet or a status update. You lose friends and followers by writing too many updates, especially those boring ones that people tend to write when they think, “Dang it all! I need to write a status update, but I don’t know what to say.” When in doubt, don’t post.
Rule #2: Always reciprocate
Why you should break it: Someone just re-tweeted your tweet. So you retweet one of his. Someone just Facebooked one of your blog posts, so you Facebook one of hers. This type of reciprocation makes common sense, right? If someone does something nice for you, you should do something nice right back, right? Maybe, maybe not. If you want people to pay attention to the information you are sending out to the social web, then you need to continually put quality information out there. If you tell your friends to click on a bunch of boring links, they’ll eventually stop trusting you for information and will stop clicking on all of your links. For this reason, it’s not a good idea to randomly re-tweet a link that you have not clicked on yourself or that you don’t think is top quality stuff. Don’t retweet tweets that you have barely read. Definitely don’t reciprocate Follow Friday suggestions for people whose tweets you have either barely read or just can’t stand. Yes, reciprocity is important, but quality is even more so. Don’t reciprocate if it means your quality suffers.
Rule #3: Get as many friends and followers as possible, in any way possible
Why you should break it: What are your social media goals? Do you want stats you can brag about, or do you want to connect in a real way with people who will have your back and help you in any way they can? If it’s the latter, then more isn’t necessarily better. Mass following people (just to get a follow back) and placing yourself on follow lists does not build relationships. You build relationships one relationship at a time. It’s better to have 100 quality relationships than 1000 connections to people who couldn’t care less about who you are.
Rule #4: Do whatever Chris Brogan does (or Guy Kawasaki or any number of famous Tweeters)
Why you should break it: Chris Brogan is already doing what Chris Brogan does and that’s why people follow him. Brogan’s followers don’t want to follow someone just like Chris Brogan. They want the real him. Be yourself. Be real. Be unique. Then people will follow and connect with the real you.
Rule #5: Follow all of the important people who are listed on various “must follow lists”
Why you should break it: Follow people who you want to connect with, you want to learn from, and whose tweets you want to read. If those people happen to be on “must follow” lists, great. If not, plenty of less famous, less followed people are just as helpful, funny, and good—and they are a lot more likely to form a relationship with you.
What social media rules have you broken and lived to tell about? Leave a comment.
Alisa Bowman writes the marriage blog ProjectHappilyEverAfter.com, where she offers free marriage advice and help. A professional writer, six of her ghostwritten and co-written books have appeared on the NY Times best seller lists. Some people say that she’s a good follow on Twitter. If you agree, you can follow her @alisabowman.
