Social networking is all about getting into some of the social networking sites then meeting and interacting with other users. If you use several different sites then you may find yourself having exactly the same conversation with the same ‘friend’, but on another site. It can get embarrassing if you don’t watch what you say.
Taking care of what you say is obviously one way to ensure you don’t get yourself into too much hot water. Even better, rather than creating a presence on each site, create an identity that is portable and moves across all the social networking sites that you intend using.
The first step is to create user names that are identical across all sites. This makes it easy for you to remember (can you image trying to remember 10 user names and the sites they attached too?). This makes it easy for ‘friends’ or contacts to find you. While creating your user name and profile, remain consistent. You will be surprised how many people will compare profiles across sites just looking to catch you out on anomalies. Finally, when undertaking a social networking campaign, stay consistent in your philosophy, views and statements across all sites.
One easy way to set up a social network is by planning your attack from the start. If you can identify a number of sites that your would like to develop a presence on, open them all at the same time in seperate tabs. Go through the setup process for each one using the same data (cut and paste comes in handy here) for each. Don’t hit that final submit button until you are happy the profiles and user names are identical (or as close as the sites will permit).
Smart social networking is about creating an online identity that many people can relate to. One word of caution – once you create this online identity, your reputation management needs to be spot on. One bad word on one site could spread like wildfire across all your social network sites.
