Ethics in Social Media Marketing

[Toni Anicic]

How do you know where is the line between fair use of social media in marketing purposes and unethical spamming?

Do you find following thousands of twitter users that ever twitted some keyword in hope they will follow back unethical?

[kronikmedia]

In general spamming is where one should draw the line. There is also a very thin line between search engine optimisation and spam. One should be careful not to cross the line. Different social media channels face different issues. Form blogs and forums, comment spam seems to be the most annoying. On sites like facebook and myspace as well you will find a lot of promotional stuff which is of little use to any.

[deepsand]

There is no bright red line here; one person's spam is another's ham.

In general, what is deemed acceptable or not depends on both the operators of a site and its users, the two of which may or may not well comport with each other.

[cbosleeds]

As a general rule, look at the other entries on the social media site you're posting to, and aim for something at least as good as those - so for instance, in the case of a blog, if none of the contrbiutors have used keywords in their names, then do the same in order to ensure that your comment gets through. Each blog or media site tends to have its own benchmark and its often straightforward to figure out what this is.


As an aside, its also possible to spam the serps even uniontentionally with results from social bookmarking and social netwroking sites if the competition is weak. Happened to me recently when doing some work for a customer - he got two of his own web pages on the first page, but also 5-6 results from my social media marketing. His competitors must be furious, but if a bookmarks that takes a split second to submit can beat them they need to up their game.

[jannmirch]

As cbosleeds mentions check out the "culture" of the social media outlet you are in and as the saying goes, When in Rome.

If people are generally posting info about their company or product, consider it fair and ethical. If for the most part, people are offering general advice and links to relevant articles, do the same.

Specific to Twitter, I certainly wouldn't consider following 000s of Twits in the hopes they follow you back unethical, just foolish. While it may work and you may get tons of people following you back (may do follow their followers w/o checking their profile) you won't likely be getting much quality in either direction.

[gg1609]

I feel that you have to have a group of interested parties in your niche and you become an expert, then when you speak others listen, this way you can use Social marketing to its advantage.

[janeth]

Originally Posted by Toni Anicic

How do you know where is the line between fair use of social media in marketing purposes and unethical spamming?

Do you find following thousands of twitter users that ever twitted some keyword in hope they will follow back unethical?

Do you feel that only talking with friends that listen to what you have to say unethical?

[bobchrist]

Spammers are everywhere, to combat spam I think we should know why it exists and how it works?

[deepsand]

Originally Posted by bobchrist

Spammers are everywhere, to combat spam I think we should know why it exists and how it works?

What do we need to know that's not already known? And, how would such help?

"Spam" is merely communication. And, one person's "spam" is another's "ham."

"Spam" is not new; it's merely a new name for an old practice in a new medium. Various and diverse types of huckstering have existed since at least the dawn of recorded history.

So, knowing that we already know the "why" & "hows," how is it that such knowledge has not given us the means to stop "spam?" Quite simply, because the only way to stop some form and/or type of communication is to stop all.

[nadalinv]

What about the good old golden rule? Would YOU like to receive this email/get this comment/be followed by a company looking for a reciprocal follow? If it would really irritate you, then no, don't do it.

[deepsand]

Originally Posted by nadalinv

Would YOU like to receive this email/get this comment/be followed by a company looking for a reciprocal follow? If it would really irritate you, then no, don't do it.

It is exceedingly unlikely that your preferences will, in all regards, be identical to those of another.

So, the true measure must be, not one of your own making, but that of those most representative of the whole of potential recipients, commonly referred to as a "community standard."

[bijan814]

One should never spam on those website, but unfortunately many people are doing that

[deepsand]

Originally Posted by bijan814

One should never spam on those website ...

What website(s)?

Define "spam."

[earnest]

Originally Posted by janeth

Do you feel that only talking with friends that listen to what you have to say unethical?

Well, basically, when I'm talking to my friends, they are not trying to sell things to me

[janeth]

Originally Posted by earnest

Well, basically, when I'm talking to my friends, they are not trying to sell things to me

I had a friend try to sell me his farm the other day and I bought a car from another friend not long ago.

[deepsand]

Just be glad that you didn't "buy the farm."

[deepsand]

So you endorse unsolicited emails

Don't call me; I'll call you.

[kbeus21]

I think that when a promotion is unwanted it is considered spam. When using twitter or other social networking sites it is good to get to know your followers and become friends before attempting to market and I usually don't market to the people that follow me anything unless I think that my followers will find it usefull.

[shubh]

It depends upon personal preferences, there can't be any parameter for judging ethics supported marketing as every professional has his own strategies and ideology. Thanks for forwarding valuable links.

[mtheory]

Let's get to the core of the issue. If you are promoting a legitamate product or service, then a reasonable amout of social networking is acceptable and even appreciated when useful to a network or forums members.

If you are peddling crap like get rich quick mlm's, cheap cell phones or clickbank garbage, then the ethics line is crossed with the first post or email.

It's not necessarily how you sell but what you sell.

"What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?"
-Mark 8:36

[cheapbob]

I don't mind getting marketing stuff I'm interested in, it save me time looking and sometimes its a great deal. I hate the continuous spam of the drug sites.