There are rules of etiquette on the social web, too – rules derived from developing social and cultural norms that businesses likely should be aware of before taking the plunge.
Scott Monty, the head of social media at Ford Motor Co., explained it this way: “It’s just like offline social networking.”
“You wouldn’t show up at a cocktail party, burst through the door, hand your business card to everyone and leave,” he said. “You see what the atmosphere is, do a lot of listening, work your way into conversations, and understand how you can provide value.”
Mihaela Vorvoreanu, a former Clemson University professor soon to be teaching at Purdue, recently authored a paper on social norms she observed and studied among a select group of college students.
“Just from what I read and hear about among public relations circles, it seems that everybody wants to get on Facebook, and that Facebook is trying to build all these features so corporations can get on – but nobody quite understands what to do there,” Vorvoreanu said. “It’s uncharted territory.”