Thomas Conn

Social Media Dos & Don’ts By Thomas L. Conn There’s no denying that social media plays a huge role in many people’s everyday life. From checking what a friend has just posted to wishing someone the happiest of birthdays, social media has become the go-to medium for human connection. Additionally, social media is now vital to businesses who are trying to reach and connect with more people. What once was an expensive process has now become simplified because any business—from large corporations to local establishments—can set up numerous social media accounts for free. But like everything, there are certain dos and don’ts of which everyone should be mindful when using social media. The Dos: BE REAL Just be yourself. Seems simple, but people and businesses tend to exaggerate or become completely different people because there’s anonymity behind a screen. People follow you for you. The Don’ts: SHARING PASSWORDS No matter if it’s for personal or professional use, never share the passwords for your social media accounts with anyone. Those passwords are the keys to your online persona, and with social media playing a huge role in everyone’s lives now, a person could do irreparable damage to you or your company. And if an employee leaves the company, change your passwords to avoid any unexpected posts from a former employee who decided to log back in and post for a quick laugh. Lastly, don’t use the same password for all accounts. ACT LIKE AN ADULT Like it or not, children are growing up with social media being commonplace. They see how adults act in the digital world and will emulate it, so be courteous and respectful just as you would in the real world. There are children watching. SHARING PRIVATE OR CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION Sharing is now easy thanks to social media, but you shouldn’t share everything. Don’t share confidential information from your job or talk about a friend’s or loved one’s private issues. Some information must be kept private and sharing it could destroy relationships or even get you in legal trouble. PUT THE PHONE DOWN With social media and the world at our fingertips, we forget what it’s like to not be connected. But it’s unhealthy to always be plugged in, so it’s great put the phone down and do a different task. Companies that use social media extensively should do the same by allowing their Social Media Coordinators or Specialists to disconnect from the company’s social media accounts. This provides employees with better work/life balance and energy. COMPLAINING ABOUT WORK Everyone has bad days at work, and, at times, a job can cause large amounts of anxiety. No matter what you’re feeling, though, you shouldn’t complain or attack your company, manager, or coworkers. They all most likely use social media and will see what you say. And if you are job searching in the future, prospective employers may see your posts and wonder if you will also complain about them if they bring you on board. BE PERSONAL & PROFESSIONAL You have your own voice and shouldn’t hide that. You also should fill your social media accounts with content that shows who you are as both a person and as a professional. Social media allows businesses to research candidates, so if they see a person who incorporates professional articles or job tips with posts about their favorite book or movie, then they’ll see someone who lives for the work they want to do. DON’T BE INAPPROPRIATE Social media and the internet has made it easier for information to spread, and that means how far your content will spread. Posting inappropriate photos or videos can be seen by everyone including current or potential employers. What you post can live on for years, even if you remove the photo or video from your account since others can share it, and you or your business may never recover. BE PICKY ABOUT CONVERSATIONS With an unlimited number of topics and conversations occurring, it’s important to know with what conversations you should engage. Choose ones that truly interest you and where your voice can add value to the discussion. If you or your business can’t sway a person or if someone’s true goal is to get under your skin, it’s best to simply move on. WRAPPED UP IN NUMBER OF LIKES Every photo you post or comment you send is open for people to “Like” it on social media. This can cause people to focus too much in how many likes their content receives, but you shouldn’t hold onto that too much. Correlating likes with personal identity can cause you to think that people don’t like you or they don’t care about your life. Instead you should put content out that you like, that shows who you are, and move on. YOUR NEIGHB O RH O O D EMAIL FOR PROFESSIONALS: Make All Your Emails Stand Out By Thomas L. Conn Most people working in an office will tell you that a lot of business is conducted through email. Email is quick and easy to use, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t challenges that come along with it. With people receiving hundreds of emails a week, it’s easy for emails to get lost or for messages to not resonate with the intended recipient. Tone can be misinterpreted, and although you thought your message was clear, your co-worker, boss, or employee may have read it differently. This can have devastating consequences if projects have tight deadlines and someone misses a direction because an email was not clear. To clear up the confusion, here are a few key things to remember when you press “send.” It all starts with a good subject line. There’s no point in focusing all your time on making the body of your email perfect if you don’t have a good subject line. The subject line is what a recipient sees first. They will either decide if they need to read it right away or save it for later. If you have something that isn’t too urgent but don’t want it to sit in someone’s inbox, make sure to create a subject line that draws attention. If you need someone to review or act on something, put “For Review” or “Action Required” first so the recipient knows that they need to do something with the email. Be clear and concise but avoid being abrupt. Email is not meant to for someone to write a novel. To maximize the effect of your email, you should write clearly and be concise. State a summary of your intention right away, and then provide bullet points with the additional information you want to provide. People shouldn’t have to read paragraphs because, like you, they don’t have the time for that. However, you don’t want to send emails that are abrupt and contain little substance or direction because these will have the opposite effect of a concise email. The recipient will be confused about what they are supposed to do with the email and will have to respond for further clarification. This results in more back-and-forth emails and you’ll have to take extra time explaining the purpose of your original email. Proofread your emails. It goes without saying that grammar is important, and that is also true with sending emails. Sending private emails with some slang and grammatical mistakes is fine, but in a professional setting, you should take a “dress-code” approach: business casual. You don’t need to write with formal language—contractions and ending a sentence with a preposition are acceptable—but you shouldn’t have misspelled words, punctuation should be correct, and there shouldn’t be any run-on sentences. If you don’t focus on grammar and punctuation, the glaring mistakes will draw focus away from your email’s actual intent, which will also cause confusion and miscommunication. Watch your tone. Digital communication, including email, often causes misinterpretations of tone because of how things are worded in a quick way. In some instances, you could even offend someone regardless of what your original intent was due to misinterpretation because they simply read the words on the screen. Respond quickly to emails. It’s your responsibility to manage your email inbox, and that includes opening and responding to emails in a timely manner. If you let emails sit, the sender could misinterpret that as you are ignoring them. It’s also a reflection on your character. Senders may think that you are too disorganized and unreliable, which can have further consequences such as managers not considering you for projects because they view you as disrespectful or irresponsible. Be Polite. Saying “please” and “thank you” can go a long way. It shows others respect, and it doesn’t take too much time. Negating these words in your emails can make you sound demanding—this is especially true for people who manage others—and the recipient may not give your request 100 percent attention or effort if they perceive you to always bark orders. But a simple “please” can soften an otherwise direct email, and a “thank you” or “thanks” shows your appreciation for the person’s time. Sending emails is a science and an art, and as the main form of communication for businesses, they’re vital to success. By following these few tips, you will be able to up your email-game and stand out among your peers, superiors, or people whom you manage.