Written by Petja
Makkonen & Mika Liukkonen
Social media, just like real life & other
media, needs norms. World without norms would be catastrophic and same would
apply to social media as well. If you have visited any unmonitored online
platforms, you probably get the idea.
Commonly
acknowledged norms for individuals in social media
Probably one of the most important norms in
social media is asking for permission to post. This is especially true when it
comes to pictures, but it should also be considered whenever making a post
about a person or company overall. In a large, organized group picture it’s
generally expected that permission to post the picture is not needed from every
single individual in the photo, rather generic “Mind if I post this” is enough
in the situation. It’s not socially acceptable to deny posting rights when
participating in a large group picture.
However, when it comes to smaller group
pictures (usually four or less) it’s socially acceptable for individual to deny
posting rights.
Social creeping is destigmatized form of online
stalking. While it’s socially acceptable, it can still be seen as violation of
privacy & against norms of social media. Determined creeper is able to find
plenty of information from today’s digital natives and for example accidentally
liking 10 year old post in facebook would still be considered embarrassing in
most scenarios.
One, sometimes expensive mistake individual
can make in social media is talk bad about their company or boss. If you post
it online, your boss can see it. Therefore one commonly acknowledged norm in
social media is definitely “Don’t post anything your boss can’t see”.
In addition for individual norms, social media
users are expected to publish only authentic information (no fakes or overly
self-promotional) and are expected to publish often enough. Nobody is expected
to publish 10 times a day, but social network profile is expected to be one’s
living online identity with regular updates.
Acknowledged
norms in the use of social media for companies
Just like norms in social media for
individuals, norms for social media exists for companies also. One would say,
that these norms are followed even more intensively than norms for individuals.
This is because there is a lot more at stake. Breaking the norms usually causes
a bigger reaction in other people, since one can say that companies represent a
wider group. Also the actions by companies can be described more severe, since
companies have a lot more power over everything than individuals.
Companies usually follow these norms actively,
because they do not want to be associated with bad behavior and therefor lose
customers. One of these norms is that you do not mix your personal and your
business identities online. You do not want to for example mix your personal
opinions about something with your company’s name.
Another norm is to carefully plan what you are
saying in social media by your company’s half. This is why there are people
hired just to do the social media posting for the company. This is how you can
keep your company’s picture clear and straightforward in social media.
Companies social media game usually follow a
lot more people than some individual’s. For a wider group of people the
company’s social media acts need to be considered more carefully. Usually the
company is also aware of its audience and knows how to properly to act to norms
that these people are keen of.
The norm above reflects to maybe most
important norm for companies in social media and elsewhere. Do not
underestimate or consider your customers to be stupid. The saying ‘’customer is
always right’’ is also as valid in social media than in real life. Always
respect the customer. Respecting the customer does not only mean that do not be
mean to them, but answering to questions and providing help in social media
also.
Reference:
1) Ahtinen, Aino and
Chowhury, Aparajita. 2018. Psychology of Pervasive Computing lectures. Tampere
University of Technology.
3) Clara Shih, 2010. Facebook Era, The:
Tapping Online Social Networks to Market, Sell, and Innovate, 2nd Edition
4)
https://blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-etiquette-rules-for-business/
Hi!
ReplyDeleteA very interesting post and I could relate on many of the things mentioned on the norms for individuals on social media. Also I still feel that the texts doesn't necessarily take to count a few changes that have been an upcoming trend in social media behaviour. It was said that individuals are expected not to give a false image of themselves or self-advertise. I feel that in some cases that is not true anymore due to the fact that anyone can become a social media star nowadays - in this case for example pictures can be heavily edited and self-advertising is done shamelesly.
Another thing I would like to challenge is companies' behaviour on social media. Allthough the things mentioned on the post apply to majority of companies on social media, there are still some companies that want to break the social media norms and cause a reaction like you mentioned, but they use the reaction they caused for marketing themselves.
Noora
Nice blog post: the norms for social media are clearly explained. I like that you make a distinction between individuals and companies on social media. Companies using social media has definitely become more important - and I think it's interesting how this changes certain company norms such as being available 24/7 and sometimes responding jokingly as opposed to always maintaining a serious image.
ReplyDeleteHi!
ReplyDeleteThanks for an insightful post! I actually had not thought the social creeping aspect myself that much, but was wondering if the same would apply e.g. for posting pictures of one's children on social media? In many cases it has been debated that as children, being young, cannot decide themselves if they want their pictures posted on social media, perhaps such photos should not be published, at least publicly. On the other hand, there seems to be quite a lot of blogs etc. including photos of children. Will there be some kind of norm coming, or is it up to each parent to decide, is perhaps still to be seen.
In addition, regarding the social media use of companies, it is often expected that the companies reply very fast to the queries of the customers also in social media, which I think could be also included as one kind of norm. People nowadays are quite accustomed to being connected, and it might affect the customer experience if the response times are very long.
Good points about interesting topic. Social media norms are something that people might just follow (or not follow) without much thinking about it, so it is important to stop to think about it.
ReplyDeleteOne point that I especially got interested was the point you wrote about individual norms: "social media users – – are expected to publish often enough." When reading this I suddenly realized my own current state of oblivion with multiple social media platforms, with which I am totally happy with. So again I wondered if I this norm actually is valid or not, or am I "the Mr. Bean of facebook" or the anarchist of social media. But then again, it is also considered to be inside the norms to take a break on some social platforms, so I guess I'll take that card here. :)
Jouko M.
Nice post,
ReplyDeleteI guess that just like with every other social interaction (cocktail parties, office meetings, etc) it was developed its own norms overtime.
It is funny that it is illegal for companies to go through a person’s social media accounts without their consent, as people (in most fields) should be in a way hired for their skills rather than their opinions. However, some people are still afraid of posting anything there that could backfire, as I don’t think many companies follow this rule. I prefer having everything blocked for those who are not my friends, and ideally add work people to linked in rather than Facebook, however, anything can go viral with the right controversy around it… and a lot of people see their life’s damaged out of an opinion placed out of context (and other times their opinions were not politically correct and offended loads of people). Then with just a google search of them the first thing you get is this viral post and comments condemning the person. Of course, it can also happen the other way around.
I would like to add that not only companies have to be careful on how the interact but also on how they don’t. If people message a company on social media they generally expect an answer… if there is none they feel ignored and this could damage their loyalty towards the brand
I agree that when it comes to social media norms in a company, we will be very careful to follow the norm. Not only article published in social media should be represented company but also the color of picture should be follow by company’s image. Employees couldn’t develop their creativity to do something new because we will afraid that if we don’t follow social media norms in a company and it will cause loss in our company. However, if we don’t have social media norm in company, it will cause everyone has right to say anything. Therefore, maybe the social media norms in a company could be adjust by the communication between employer and employee.
ReplyDeleteI-CHEN
Like all other technologies, social media is a tool. It is a tool for outreach and social connection. And as is true for all technologies, it can also be used for nefarious intentions. Of course, it is difficult to predict how individuals will make use of its features and facilities. The organizations maintaining these media platforms should have some level of responsibility towards restricting the usage of their product in negative ways. This is easier said than done as it implies heavy data and activity monitoring which may constitute as a breach of privacy. Furthermore, these activities can only be detected once they occur which adds further complexity to an already difficult situation.
ReplyDeleteOn a slightly unrelated note, a friend once related to me an incident when he was visting his mechanic's workshop. He observed a guy sendind a private message to a female user account. Then he signed out of his account and, as shocking as the plot twist of 'The Sixth Sense', he signed in as the female he had just messaged, opened the message and replied to it... to himself. Why this person felt the need to do so, we did not care and clinging to our assumptions, me and the other friends listening to the story, we joined together in ridiculing and laughing at this man we had never seen or would never meet.
However, I strongly believe in teaching and educating people in the etiquettes of using anything to produce a lasting impact and ensuring proper usage of any device. Your post goes a long way towards imparting that knowledge that may seem to others as 'common sense'. I thoroughly enjoyed reading your post and it was most instructive.
But as Pablo Picasso once said - “Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”
Very good post that explains well the importance of standards on for social networks. The main points are explained, i.e. asking permission to post and the use of social networks in the company.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what has been written in this post. In my opinion I think it is very important to ask permission when you want to post a picture where other people appear. For example, I don't necessarily like to find pictures of groups where I appear to publish on a social network without my permission. Moreover, this should be a kind of mandatory functionality directly included in social networks. For example, it provides a feature that allows people who appear in the photo to validate the photo before it is published. But this would require a big step forward in the recognition of individuals in photos (knowing who each person is) and therefore perhaps a feature of this type will be available in the near future.
Another important thing, I think it would be wise to post a small preventive message before a message or photo is posted on a social network, a message that will remind the user that what he posts could follow him all his life and cause him problems.
Indeed, although there may be "standards" they are not mandatory, however, and many people often do not take them into account and post things they later regret.
We must never forget that what we leave on the Internet is never erasable, even if we delete a post that we publish on Facebook for example, it will often only be erased "on the surface" and always available in the Facebook memory that grows day after day....
Raphaël NACHAR
Hi!
ReplyDeleteI agree totally that there exists these norms you have described. I have also observed that there are some things that are much more socially acceptable in the social media than in real life. Things like talking thrash about totally foreign people with your own name and face or not being polite with total strangers are some things that are frown at IRL but sometimes even praised or laughed at in social media.
- Joni
An interesting approach into tis topic. I like it. I have never even come to think of the different norms that appear within social media.
ReplyDeleteCome to think of it, there is definitely truth behind all of these norms mentioned. I mean believe the jerk that complained to someone on how
they should not be shown on a group picture. Or imagine the embarassment/awkwardness of getting a like on an ancient picture that you feel like deleting right away because of it.
I hoped to have more talk about norms on sites such as twitter or youtube.
Additionally, norms that exist on real time chatting and the way they differ from mediums suchs as email could bring some interesting
discussion into this topic as well.
Thanks for your post.
-Pietari
Hello,
ReplyDeletethe norms you've described are indeed present and most of them are usually considered to be "common sense". I'd also would like to point out that the balance between freedom, aka being able to say, write or do anything you want on social media and being monitored not to break a norm is quite tricky. Most of the more unmonitored forums and sites I've visited, did indeed have their share of toxicity and angst, but that is what might drive some people to that platform. The ability to express oneself without fear of being judged as not norm fitting can lead into creativity that would otherwise not be achievable. But, as I already mentioned, on every creatively fresh idea, or interesting unconventional conversation, there is a ton of swearing (what I assume to be) kids who seek attention via anonymous remote conflict in chat.
This is an interesting post. I literally smiled while reading your post. Facebook often show us memory from few years back. Luckily they keep it private until we publish it, good norm. But when I see some of my posts of 5-6 years back, I feel that I need to slap in my face for stupidity I have done in past by posting that. When we post something in social media we often forget that one time's alright staff could be considered as very stupid in other time.
ReplyDeleteIn some moodle return, I noticed that there is 30 minute time span where someone can edit the post. After 30 minute the post will be published to forum. This kind of window could be helpful sometimes. Because sometime we just wrote something out of sense and after few minutes of publishing it, we feel we made a mistake. But the damage is already been done. 30 minute return back window can stop 90% of these types of catastrophe.