One very quickly growing segment in the on-line community is social media network. This concept actually only began to grow around 2006. Since that time there have been some very large venues grow that include Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. Social media networks can be used for both business and pleasure.

Most social media networks will require that you give some information about yourself. Most of the sites do not charge to join. They will want to know your age or year of birth to see if you need parental permission to join. You may be able to use an alias or be required to use your real name, according to the site’s policies.

The sites will then allow you to read people’s posts and then make your own comments on what is being said. They can also read your posts. You will both have the opportunity to comment on posts made by the other person. You can usually add either video or photo postings to the site.

You need to be aware that one post you make may be read by thousands of people, even if you only have a relatively short friend list. when you make a comment on a friend’s post, that comment is visible on all to all of his friends. In addition, it is visible to all the friends of friends that make a comment on the same posts. Additionally, if you make a post, your post can be seen by the friends of all persons that make a comment on your post.

These connections make social media a powerful tool. Messages can help or hurt your cause. Be careful what you post, as you never know who will see something you say. It may be a potential employer or a current supervisor. If you continually make derogatory remarks, you may find that your friends have quietly blocked you from reading or commenting on their posts. Friends can be made and lost very quickly using social media networking.

Social media networks are being used by network marketers to build followers. Their social media friends then can be their new clients in what they are trying to market. If the media is used with care, you can develop loyal followers that may become loyal customers. Wise marketers do not try to rush friends into becoming clients in order to avoid the appearance of another person with a spam message.

If you violate the rules of the site, then you may find your page has been shut down and that you are blocked from using the site.

In the past five years, the popularity of social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace has skyrocketed. These sites are growing at an alarming rate. Every day it seems like more and more people are joining these sites. The effect on society can even be seen in language, with “friend” now being a verb as well as a noun. All this hype begs the question: What are the benefits of social media networking?”

Social networking sites have become big business. It’s no secret that the bigger social networking sites out there are making huge profits, and so are the companies that advertise through them. Each contributes to the system in its own way, and each receives its own reward.

While the owners of popular social networking sites may be using user inputted data such as age, hobbies, interests, and other details to direct advertisers to key audiences, the users of these sites are also using this information to make friends. A member of a social networking site can easily perform searches for people with similar interests. He can then narrow his search by physical proximity to his place of residence. He can further refine his search by age. In short, social networking sites give people the power to meet and interact with people right around the corner who they never would have otherwise met.

The ready availability of this information is perfect for advertisers. Say an advertiser has been hired to promote a new brand of paintball equipment. The advertiser could try to run ads during the evening hours on sports related channels and hope to hit his target audience, but there’s no guarantee that his ad will reach the right people. He could also run a print ad in a paintball related magazine, but that magazine would already be saturated with paintball related ads.

With social media sites, that advertiser could agree to pay X amount of dollars for each advertisement that gets posted to the page of people who have listed “paintball” as one of their interests. Right away that advertiser has found a way to reach thousands of people who know about and enjoy paintball, without wasting a single ad on people who don’t enjoy the sport. This allows advertisers to reach potential clients with mind boggling efficiency.

Even political candidates and celebrities have seen benefits from the sites. Politicians can create a page and use it to educate the public on their platform. Celebrities can use the sites to keep fans up to date on their most recent movies or concerts. People who want to disseminate information can rapidly disseminate it, and people who want to gather it can rapidly gather it.

When the internet first became a household commodity, there were all sorts of outrageous promises that came with it. It would change the way we do things, change our very beings. In many ways, these promises were right, but the internet was such a big place, and information was so randomly dispersed, that for many it was easier just not to bother with it. Social networking sites organize all the people on the web, and help to bring to fruition all the internet’s promises.

Social Networking in Plain English

Originally, social media were designed to facilitate the dissemination of information or media via social interaction. Social media is characterized by highly accessible and often user-friendly methods of publishing such as via the internet or other web-based technology that is capable of reaching an enormous audience and allows the contribution of differing views or additional information almost instantaneously.

Naaaahhh… but one must realize that this social movement requires you to learn some Facebook manners! (especially if you’re looking to do any marketing on Facebook or if you’re trying to make money with Facebook).

So what’s this “Facebook Etiquette” thing all about?  Well, it might be easier to start by talking about what NOT to do on Facebook so you can avoid getting labeled as a “spammer” or as so many people call them today an “idiot marketer”.  To remain in what many “Facebookers” would call appropriate Facebook marketing etiquette, DO NOT:

Not trying to be mean, here, but I am not interested in reading your personal ad feed. And neither is anyone else….

Twitter, like all social networking sites, does require a bit of the “social” to be considered effective. So get with the conversation – you might even make a new friend or two.

What’s Up With That Welcome Message? Another thing I find kind of irritating (and so do other people) is to get a message saying “Thanks for following, now go to my website and buy something.” Okay – maybe they don’t actually say “buy something,” but that’s what they’re implying by sending that message!

It’s okay to send a little DM (direct message) to someone when they follow you, but keep it personal…. I mean, if you met me in real life, walking down the street, you wouldn’t introduce yourself and ask me to fork over some cash…. If you did, you’d be a weirdo and I’d run the other way.

And if you did that on Twitter, same thing.. I’ll run the other way! Or click away, as the case may be…..

Participation Is Required. I’ll be honest with you. I have more followers than updates. (at the time of this writing, I’ve made 2,345 updates). I can’t say that I sit around posting all day long on Twitter, but I’ve obviously made an effort.

Think of it in the “dating” context. You’re not going to go out on a date with a hot chick or a hot guy and try to get to third base on the first date (unless your goal is to get slapped and walked out on).  If you just met someone you have to talk to them, ask questions, share info about your likes and dislikes…you can see where I’m going with this.  The same rules apply in the world of Facebook.  Don’t try and hit one out of the park when you just meet someone.  Take the time to create a relationship and get to know people.  This takes a little bit of work, but it will pay off.  By creating healthy, “real” relationships you will be able to share ideas, network, and find the right people to buy into what it is you have to offer.

That’s it. Pretty simple.  Just stay away from the “short cuts” and easy temptation to just blast out your marketing to every kid, mom, grandpa, business person, and everyone else you meet on Facebook.  Do it the right way and have some Facebook Manners.