There has been lots of focus lately in the marketing/social media communities about how you should or should not use social media.  I personally find the endless rules and regulations constricting, and against what social media is really about – being social and interacting with other people.

Social media is the most transparent of all media.  It’s about you, the individual, and we are all different.  So why should one person’s social media rules be your rules?  In the real world we all communicate differently, and the same should go for the social media world.

Case in point:  On Twitter, @shitmydadsays has only tweeted 22 times and already has 153,245 followers.  He is following one person.  He doesn’t retweet anyone.  He doesn’t reply to anyone.  He breaks all the Twitter etiquette rules and still has a huge following that grows by the day.  Why?  He is funny.  He tweets hilarious quotes his 73 year-old dad says.  I don’t care if he thanks me for retweeting him or follows me back.  He provides comical relief and has amassed a huge following of people who just want to hear his tweets regardless of his etiquette.

I think the only real rule to social media is to figure out what works for you.   Everyone has different goals, a different voice, and will inevitably need a different strategy and different tools to communicate your message effectively.   Figure out who you are, what you are trying to say, and whom you are trying to reach and you will pretty quickly figure out which rules work for you, and which don’t.

And don’t worry about pleasing everyone, just like in real life, you can’t.