Things have changed in the world overall, especially in the way business is done online and offline.  

Now consumers mandate how and what they will tolerate posted in their online social space which means… businesses have got to become social.

What triggered the need for this change had to do with the failed economy we still are enduring worldwide. Consumers..yes that includes YOU… are now starting to check out everything before they move forward with doing business with anyone.

Unfortunately far too many business people choose to traverse the low road of marketing which means they are out to scam everyone.  As a result, online deception campaigns and spam has increased on average of 400%.

Action I Take

In order to function effectively in this ever-changing online environment, I have had to make changes to how I socialize and do business online. One of the major decisions I have made is how I will personally use social media. In an effort to demonstrate to you how social media is to be effectively used I have developed my Social Media Manifesto.

First, and foremost, my social network will consist of ONLY real people and business.   My online social circle comes from me making a seriously hard review of who I follow ,who follows me and who is a so-called Friend or connection in all of my Social Networks.

The Facts

The study I personally performed in 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015 and again in 2018, of my online and real-life connections (now totaling over 1200 people I have interviewed), confirms it is very important to validate who follows me and WHO THEY FOLLOW.   Over 93% of the people following me report they regularly check their connections to see who they associated with online.

85% reported they checked to see who I have in my online social circle before becoming connected with me.  The reasons they offered for why they do this makes perfect sense and I have adopted that same attitude towards who I allow in my community.  

These conversations have humbled me to know that tens of thousands of people see me as a viable source of quality content.  This has become the main reason I put forth every effort I can to protect them..yes YOU are included.

Reasons for Control

The predators of the internet have now found social networks offer them a vast opportunity to scam people through rambling through a person’s connections to find their patsies. Most scammers sit and wait in a people’s contact list for the right time to scam someone.   I refer to this as the Spammers Buffet.

I am doing what I can to stop people who post in everyone’s social stream unsolicited pitches for products and services. I will do this by performing a better job of screening who I connect with and naturally who I associate with.  Maybe what I have outlined in my Social Media Manifesto will help you also.

The Way It Will Be

I offer no apologies for what I have to do to protect the REAL people I have in my online and offline social circles.  My purpose for being online is to set an example for others on how social media really works. Effective Social Media practices are based on consumer-driven requirements.  These requirements are clear…my consumers and potential friends want to know who they are making friends with are also a REAL person.

For me, and this blog site, this can only be accomplished by YOU responding to the blogs I post and/or other updates to my social networks. If this is not your approach to Social Networking, then you probably are not someone I will be connecting with or I would want to introduce to my growing online and offline networks.

• I cherish the relationships I have developed with my social community.
• I treat their choice to connect with me as a privilege and pledge to not let them down by harboring anyone who produces dribble on any of the social networking sites I am a member.
• I connect with only people who have demonstrated to me, on a consistent bases, they really care about who they are and what they provide to the Community.
• I also serve notice on my frequent use of the Mute, Block, Block Report Spam and Delete buttons to control who is online or in my social networks.
• I will use all means to block anyone who is obviously from another planet or using an Old World Marketing Plan.

In an effort to maintain my sanity and validate my time spent on online, I have limited my social networking and all social media primarily to LinkedIn.  I welcome those who share with me the attitude that the core value of social media is in the conversation. I invite you to join me in my efforts to make a difference.

Following is my:

Social Media Manifesto

My Mantra is:

• To “Keep It Simple to Get Things Done!”.
• I am inspired by the “Big Ideas” and the people that dream them.
• I choose ONLY to work, associate socially and/or professionally with honorable individuals who believe in making a buck while making a difference.

LinkedIn is my preferred social space.  The site holds true to being a business networking site, but too many people in businesses are taking to the business networking platform to using Spam as their form of developing business on LinkedIn.  I will spend 99% of my time and efforts in this space.  Why?  Because it is the social space with the most value and control of the things that matter. LinkedIn is the ONLY space that rewards those who take themselves seriously.

My LinkedIn Policy:

• I only place in my Network people who post a photo of themselves or businesses who are verified.
• I do not tolerate the trendy or fad driven applications or features to appease internal pressure from the yet life experienced (but yet genius) personnel..i.e Autoawesomes and .gif animated files
• I will actively report to LinkedIn..as everyone on LinkedIn should… anyone who is attempting to game the LinkedIn platform by purposely posting information that is out to scam the community.

I will not connect with anyone who:

• Does not think enough of him or herself to post a Photo.
• Is outside my interests socially or professionally.
• Is with a Direct Marketing, Multi-Level Marketing, redundant services or Ponzi Schemes.

I will not connect to a Business Name used in a personal profile.  I will disconnect any contact who changes their photo to a logo or other photo that is not a photo of the person of the account. I will not ask anyone to join my network if I feel they would not benefit from being in my network. I will not recommend anyone if I have not spoken with or done business with them. I will not respond to emails sent as an overall broadcast to the members of a LinkedIn Group I am a member. I will not join any LinkedIn Group whose obvious mission is to gather as many members as possible so the spamming can be dished out to the members of that group.

As unpopular as my stance on Twitter may be, I have decided to make Twitter my 2nd ranking social platform. 

Twitter Policy:

My limited presence on Twitter will be to build a community of like-minded people in hopes they will want to learn more about me, what I do, what I don’t do, along with hoping they become part of the larger community I am building that is not on Twitter. I am not out to play the Numbers game on how many followers I can gather or how many people I can follow. Those who do play this game do so not because they know a large number of people, but to feel a need to artificially measure their popularity. If, or when, I use Twitter to build relationships and develop friendships…

My Promise is:

I will..

• Only communicate with and FOLLOW someone who I have found to be a REAL person and have had at least three intellectual conversations or responses to my @reply to my post on Twitter.
• Use the 80 – 20 rule in posting Tweets..which means 80% of my posts will be original or @replies with only 20% of my posts having links or Re-Tweets to relevant interesting information.
• Develop an “A List” of people I FOLLOW that I either have met in real life or who I have carried on a spirited conversation on Twitter for more than one post. The others on my Follow list are just as important to me and are Followers I keep track of or have not had a lengthy conversation with yet. Either group should consider themselves lucky since I only Follow people who are REAL people and interest me and my other Followers.
• Not Follow someone who does not post a self photo unless I have met them personally or they come highly endorsed from someone I have met personally.
• BLOCK or UnFollow any Tweet that:
  • Has Over 3000 Followers
  • Follows Over 3000
  • Post ONLY from apps like Tweetfeed, mobile apps or the Web API
  • Does not have any @replies on the first page of Twitter Timeline
  • Has only 1 Update and following thousands with any number of followers
  • Porn Sites
  • Direct Marketers
  • MLM’s
  • or any get rich quick programs based on questionable business models
  • Anyone who posts for posting sake
  • who only post LINKS, quotes or RT’s
  • only posts and does not reply to ANYONE

I will NOT…

• Follow for Following sake.
• Follow Anyone who does not post a
  • Photo of self
  • Real Name
  • Complete Twitter Bio with a link to another non-Twitter site
• Play the ‘Follow as Many People as You Can’ Game
• Follow anyone who uses profanity profusely
• Follow Anyone who @replies to my Tweets in an effort to get me to Follow them
• Use any program or BOT that automatically does anything to generate Followers or Follows Tweets for the sake of following.
• Use any Auto DM

I appreciate the fact that there are many people wanting to Follow Me for whatever reason. For that I am very humbled. However, I do not reciprocate with an Automatic Follow like many misguided people here on Twitter feel they need to do. It boils down to quality rather than quantity and I value the relationships I have made with people who are out on Twitter to do the same. I hope that I earn someone’s Follow for:

• Who I am
• What I offer
• What I do not offer
• Making someone laugh
• Bring to their attention somebody and something really worthwhile
• Connecting them to someone who will make their personal or professional life better

This is how I will use Twitter and I will not apologies with the exception of this one time. Sorry, for anyone who does not agree with how I will be using Twitter.

Unfortunately Facebook, in its effort to appease its investors, is focusing only on providing their stockholders a hefty ROI.  Facebook has clearly lost interest in providing a healthy social environment. Since Facebook filters quality content out so that the sponsor-driven advertisements come first in the social streams I have limited my exposure on Facebook to be minimal.  With that said, I will only have a presence on Facebook for validation and training purposes.

So, my Facebook Policy is simple: 

My presence on Facebook will be remote.  The posts you see me make on Facebook will be made from other social spaces connection to Facebook.

So far, this is my Social Media Manifesto. Hopefully, it will help you to understand how to connect to me. I am not out to please everyone and I understand that everyone is not out to please me. However, I will try to please you if you please me with abiding by the rules of common sense. I know that there will be an exception to every rule including the ones I have outlined here. I accept that and look forward to making an exception because it means I have learned something.

Let me know how I can help