We know that social networking is undoubtedly one of the best ways of succeeding in ones business and in finding one’s dream job. At times, we may not get the best out of this amazing platform that is at our disposal just because we do not know how to conduct ourselves in these social networking sites. Often we make mistakes because we do not know our boundaries.

Social networking sites have shown tremendous growth in the past few years because of the success rate it has with lead generation. Many business professionals rely on social networking sites like Oysite.com to generate business. This should send us a clear signal that when we are using social networking sites, we should remind ourselves that we are dealing with some of the top executives and top ranking professionals. If at all, we want to create some lasting impression we should project a highly professional image about ourselves. One of the mistakes that people make is that when we make use of some of these online platforms, we tend to be liberal on ourselves. We tend to forget all the rules of communication that we learnt in our business school and end up being highly informal. Therefore, we must guard ourselves from this temptation and use highly professional and formal approach in all our dealings.

If we want just friendship and if we do not mean serious business, we can make use of platforms that are meant for that. When we are in a serious business-networking environment we must make others feel that we mean serious business. It does not mean that we should shove out of the window our friendly self. When you are writing a note to the top executives, they do not expect to receive your note full of smiley and emoticons. They would rather be prompted to invest their time in reading messages that have a highly professional touch. Never use abbreviations and emoticons in your messages and slang should be considered a taboo in business networking.

Secondly, make sure when you join groups and invite others to join your group, invite only people that would add value to your network. It is just not the number of people whom you know matters but who you know matters the most. So keep your network clean and be very choosy in joining networks and in inviting friends. When you are posting public comments make sure that they are not just superficial comments but something that adds value to the network projecting yourself as a person of substance.

Never make any remarks that are gender biased or remarks that are prejudiced against any particular race, color or language group. Try to avoid all forms of unnecessary provoking responses from your end. Always be diplomatic with your messages, comments and posts.

Volunteer to comment on other’s posts in your network however never do that to project yourself as an, “I know it all kind of person.”