My point is, although I agree there could be some rules on social media sites, I don’t think your list should be the starting point. I have no problem hitting the delete button or skipping over a post that is obviously of no interest to me. Do not stifle the freedom of speech, the government is already doing enough of that now.

Great blog otherwise, I will be back for a visit or two

I was waiting for your follow-up piece before I responded. I wanted to make sure I understood where you were coming from before I admitted to disagreeing with you.

To be honest, as I read through your “rules” I felt like the piece should have been appropriately titled “things I don’t like.” Now, I will admit, a lot of the “rules” that you discuss I do not like as well. I absolutely hate when people spam me but unfortunately, spam is in the eye of the beholder. You talk about filling up inboxes but my clients and I have been accused of the naughty “S” word for simply posting multiple times to the same group. For some people I can see how this would constitute spam but for people like me and you (I’ve seen you name repeated several times in LinkedIn groups) it is simply viewed as providing value.

And there in lies the problem with your “rules;” there is no black and white. You can talk all day about what you do or do not like and I may agree 100% with you but that does not make it a rule. You stated that a community needs rules or else it will slide into anarchy. The beauty of social media is that it is a true democracy in the sense that if people decide your message is inappropriate, it will be ignored. Any other guidance needed is bestowed upon us by the likes of the FTC or the executives at your social media platform of choice.

My point is that, while I understand being irked by the way people use social media, it does not mean it breaks a rule. The fact of the matter is that someone may break one of your “rules” but be completely acceptable in my “rule” book. And there in lies the value of social media. We can pick and choose how, when and why we communicate with someone. If a marketer does not use a form we like, we ignore them. If enough people ignore them, they fail in their attempt. You may call their failure a breaking of a “rule” but I have seen plenty of “rules” broken with great success and plenty of immaculate campaigns that end in failure.

While you talk about the great wealth of connections that you have been able to acquire via social media, I like to talk about the breadth and depth of different companies that we have worked with. It has been over the course of working with those companies that I have found no steadfast rules. If your network has provided you with a different world view, I am very interested in learning who else adheres to, monitors and enforces your rules.

I honestly greatly respect what you are doing but do respectfully disagree with your opinion.

Thank you for breaching the topic,

Kyle Blades