Getting an account on Twitter, Facebook or other social media sites is the easy part. It's what you do when you start using the account that will determine whether or not you are successful. In general, listen first and take the time to understand the norms for participation. Each site has it's own norms related to language, terminology, and acceptable behavior that you will want to understand when you start using it.

I also recommend participating gently at first:

- Pick one site to start
- Spend more time listening
- Take the time to understand how people participate
- Participate with an individual account first (not a company account)
- Engage in additional sites as you get comfortable
- Begin participating for your organization

The following is an excerpt from my book, Companies and Communities: Participating without being sleazy, with more information about the social principles that you should understand before participating in any online communities or social media.

There are some basic guiding principles that should be used to guide community participation within a company or other organization. These should apply to participation in most online social media environments, including online communities and social networks, but they are not meant to be a rule book. As you participate in online social environments, you should be thinking about these guidelines and finding the right way to apply them in your situation. Participating within the spirit of these principles is more important than memorizing them and applying them in a black or white, all or nothing approach. Anything involving real people comes in shades of gray, and these guidelines are no different.

Be Sincere

Sincerity is a critical element; if you aren’t able to be sincere, then social media is probably not the best medium for you. Being sincere in your social communications will increase your credibility, and if you appear to be simply going through the motions, people are unlikely to waste their attention on your messages. Sincerity goes a long way toward believability and credibility.

Focus on the individuals

Participation in online communities and social media should be focused on the individuals, not the corporate entity. For example, it is OK to have group blogs for a company as long as posts are tied to individuals (real people), but you wouldn’t want to have a blog where every post is authored by “company name” or “admin”. People work at companies, but the real connections and networks happen between individuals. Show a little personality and little bit of who you are from a personal standpoint.

Not all about you

Social media is a conversation, which is by definition two-way. In other words, it is not all about you, your company, your products or your agenda. It involves listening and participating in the broader community of people. Don’t just expect people to help you; jump in and help other people in areas where you have some expertise. If all you do is pimp your products without adding to the broader conversation, people will lose interest in you pretty quickly.

Be a Part of the Community

Just talking at people isn’t going to cut it in this new social world where the community is critical. You should be a part of the broader community of people with similar interests both online and offline by participating in, but not trying to control the community. Engaging in conversations and when possible actually meeting those people who comment on your content, follow you on Twitter, or friend you on Facebook can go a long way toward making real, lasting connections with people. Attend local meetups, comment on content from people who read your content, engage in online discussion forums, and engage in other places where you can find people from your community of peers.

Everyone’s a Peer

The days of expert speakers who talk at us while we passively absorb the information with little or no opportunity for discussion are gradually disappearing. This is the old media model: unreachable experts are on TV, the radio, and in print. Now, anyone can publish video, audio podcasts, and online writing while commenting on the content produced by others. Granted, not all of it will be professional quality; however, with an open mind, I think you might be surprised at all of the opportunities to learn from others. We each come into a discussion with unique and diverse ideas, and we learn by listening and sharing ideas with our peers aka everyone.

This was an excerpt from the book Companies and Communities: Participating without being sleazy, which is available in paperback, eBook, or Kindle formats. You can also read posts about similar topics on my Fast Wonder blog.

Stay tuned for Social Media Guidelines Part 2: Participation.