Comments on: Social Media Boundaries

By: Tweets that mention Social Media Boundaries | The Fight Against Destructive Spin -- Topsy.com

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 04:38:39 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Sly. Sly said: @GiniDietrich http://spinsucks.com/spin/social-media-boundaries/ in todays world, you have to b careful, esp. in the SM venue. [...]

By: Patrick Fitzgerald

Patrick Fitzgerald — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 22:15:43 +0000

Interesting take, I was researching Facebook for a client and was Friended by people I have been able to successfully avoid for more than 20 years. If this were Lifetime Network and not real life, there would be a great reunion story here; mostly it’s Mafia Wars requests and validation for avoiding these people and not friending.

With a personal page and a business page it starts to feel like the Seinfeld episode where George’s worlds are colliding. You mention your business page on your personal page and the next thing you know some super buff dude gets a case of extemporania on your business wall. Boundaries Good, Big Boundaries Better. Worlds Collide!

By: Nate St. Pierre

Nate St. Pierre — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 21:44:29 +0000

You know how on some blogs, every comment seems to be, “I totally agree with you 100%; you’re so right!”

Well, I VERY rarely do that. In this case, however, I am. I think the way we handle our social media boundaries is very close to the same (which is why I don’t have many Facebook friends either).

By: Laura Scholz

Laura Scholz — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 21:33:58 +0000

Great post, Gini. My Facebook page long ago crossed over from friends/family only to my larger professional network. Which was great for communicating and sharing information when my friend list was smaller and before I really got involved in Twitter, but now, I’m getting five random “friend” requests a day, many from people I don’t recall every interacting with. I really would like to remove about half of the people from my friend list, but I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feeling and wish I had set more boundaries up front.

But, I do take advantage of privacy settings for photos and such, but I pretty much use the mother rule–anything I wouldn’t want her to read or see, it’s not on there. But I’m definitely more guarded on FB than I used to be.

By: Mike Koehler

Mike Koehler — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 21:29:00 +0000

Pretty much the same here. I have to know you personally to friend you on Facebook. I use FB for leisure only. I do struggle when people from the past reach out. Some I’m excited to see, others I just groan and internally debate do I accept or not. You and I have talked about this before, do we really want to friend everyone from BHS? ummmm no.

By: Davina K. Brewer

Davina K. Brewer — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 20:59:30 +0000

Gini, I have almost the same policies.

Twitter: I am open to anyone for a while. If it gets too spammy or self-promoting, I can unfollow or block.

LinkedIn: I wish there was a better way to decline than just clicking Don’t Know; sometimes I will respond with a “how do we know each other?” or try to see how we are connected before accepting, or declining.

Facebook: it’s my personal/play space, so I am very selective. If it’s a casual friend, old HS classmate but we weren’t close friends, you go on a HS friend list, blocked from the good stuff.

If it’s really a business contact, I’ll redirect them to LI. If we are sorta friendly but still more of a professional relationship, I accept with the warning they’re on a Business list blocked from the really good stuff. Most people are cool with going to LI or being listed.

Gregg’s right, lots of people are just trying to pretty up the numbers, connect to anyone and everyone they can. FWIW.

By: Gini Dietrich

Gini Dietrich — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 20:48:25 +0000

Lon, you are so right! I don’t think people realize that attorneys are using the social networks for discovery. As business leaders, we have to be thinking about that at all times. But it’s also about transparency and we don’t want to be scared or paralyzed. We just have to be smart. I always say, “If you don’t want your grandmother to see or hear you do something, don’t put it on the social networks!’

By: Lon

Lon — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 20:40:16 +0000

One feature of social media that has astounded me so far is how careless people are with their personal information. As a veteran of the privacy wars from my years in the news media, I’m probably more cognizant of the issues than some people people. I’m shocked at how much personal info people put on the web about themselves and how long it continues to exist out there.

By: Molli

Molli — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 20:38:59 +0000

I agree with you, although, I look at it by how much information is shared. For me Facebook is JUST for friends and family. Since there are photos and tagging on walls it makes it very personal. LinkedIn is for my professional network. Since I pretty much have my resume up there I prefer that I know you or have worked with you in one way or another. Then Twitter is for anyone who wants to chat with me. Since the only information available is your bio and status updates, it’s more about personality than personal information.

By: Gini Dietrich

Gini Dietrich — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 20:36:18 +0000

Oh and Scott? Please tell them to become fans of Arment Dietrich…not to friend me!