Two-way interaction is at the core of social media. Following and sharing information go hand-in-hand. If you don’t have the time to follow what other people are saying, you won’t be able to fit your own message into the conversation.
Be Genuine and Positive
Controlling the tone of the messages is an important skill if you mean to be active online. As general advice, one could say that positivity and willingness to interact suit the web as well as other kinds of communication. Honest dialogue which impartially considers different opinions is the most useful for all parties.
Messaging in social media is often placed somewhere between speech and writing. In speech, various tones can be expressed in many ways, but in written dialogue the way of saying things easily becomes monotonous. Naturally the tone control varies between different writers, but the tone of one individual writer is surprisingly permanent. It’s interesting to study both your own and others’ messages, while keeping in mind the question of tone: how do the various expressionsfeel? With respect to tone, it isn’t important to be concerned about the literal content of the message, but rather what it feels like.
Humour is difficult to master, but some levity is always called for. The advantage of humour is that it allows you to keep a healthy distance, but in an emergency excess tension can be loosened with asmiley. You can forget about unnecessary pomposity as studies prove that the more you let your personality show, the more interesting you become in an online environment.
Read and Re-Read Every Message and Answer
You should always make sure that you start and finish your messages in a friendly way, because negativity only tends to aggravate others. An instructive, authoritative style of presentation in the manner of “this is how it is” comes across as stifling, while the same content formulated “I think this is how it is” invites participation. Your tone is generally made better if you have the patience of mind to read other people’s messages a few times and not react too quickly. It is often beneficial for the atmosphere of the conversation to cite the responses others have given and thereby prove that you’ve read and understood them.
Directing interaction takes skill, as it should be done in the spirit of free conversation without a teacher-like attitude and authority. The participants should be given time to form their opinions so that the first and last comment don’t always come from the teacher. Flexible communication is supported by an atmosphere that promotes contemplation – where the aim is not in getting right or wrong answers, but a conversation having many voices.
Are Online Conversations Impartial?
Online interaction has been interpreted as more democratic and less tied to the speaker’s social position than face-to-face conversations. The matter does however call for more thorough investigation, because more and more often – even on specialist message boards – you will run into participants who feel that their comments have been ignored. Power settings have an impact online too, but they are not necessarily formed in the same way as in face-to-face communication.
A new feature in social media communication is its multi-centeredness as well as publicity, which make the conversations more varied but also demand that you learn the rules of public conversations and the proper netiquette. The quality of the conversation is usually improved if you use your own name or you’re able to connect the user name with the right person.