Be Positive On Social Networks Without Being Irritating

It’s a fine line between being a positive community member on Twitter, Facebook or elsewhere in social media land and being an unbearable self-promoter. A Wired columnist offers funny and telling advice on how to walk the line.

Evan Ratliff observes the sometimes awkward nature of social media users to congratulate themselves and their close friends on every career moment and minor victory, whether it’s a book publication or finding a great bagel in an unknown bakery. You’ll want to read the whole piece to get the feeling of what works and what doesn’t; the bit on retweeting someone else’s compliment to you is gold. But Ratliff’s basic advice is to mainly give ups to those who aren’t likely to give ups to themselves:

So go ahead and, as the marketing gurus say, tend the Brand of You. Just don’t be me-first. Roll as many logs to others as you do back to yourself. Promote those deserving friends too humble to promote themselves and you’ll be tending the entire social-network ecosystem.

How do you walk the line between being generally positive and, yeah, a little self-marketing and being generally agreeable in the social space?

Self-Service: The Delicate Dance of Online Bragging [Wired]