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In the past couple of weeks I’ve noticed an annoying trend around dubya-dubya-dubya-dot town. Social media usage has hit the mainstream. I would argue it’s even gone past “trend” status and is becoming a normal part of daily life for more and more people. Not convinced? Check out the article in Marketing Magazine titled, Over 65s Flock to Social Media. I think it’s a great thing but evidently not everyone shares my opinion.

I’m beginning to see an increasing amount of finger wagging and sophomoric “rules” thrown around. It’s often coming from dedicated social media users and pointed at the novices. We’ve all seen a plethora of articles about what to do and not do when using social media tools. I weighed in on my own list titled, Social Media Dos and Don’ts. I’m not talking about instructional advice. I’m seeing a lot of playground antics and downright rudeness.

For example:

Hey Twitter newbies, put your comment BEFORE the RT.

Who says? I always put my comment at the end of my retweet.
Or

If you’re going to post a news article on LinkedIn, you’re supposed to start a discussion to go with it.

Yeah, I don’t think so. I often post news on LinkedIn groups with no discussion at all. It’s a great way to share information. I’m not sure you need to discuss every single thing.

Or
I don’t appreciate the language you’re using on your wall posts. Facebook should remove it.

Really? A Facebook wall is like someone’s house. If you don’t like the language, leave. I wish I could print the reply posted, but I’m still blushing and laughing from the pure profanity and creativity behind it.

Here’s what I think. Social media has created a humongous culture extremely inclusive in nature. One of the best things about it is you’re not faced with “Conditions of Entry”. As long as people aren’t breaking criminal laws, if you don’t like what you’re seeing, change your settings, connections, and followers. Build a new patch where everyone interacts the way you want them to. Don’t kill the party for the rest of us by telling us how to behave.

What party killers have you noticed on social media?

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*image courtesy of CarbonNYC at www.flickr.com