Online Dating, Social Media Etiquette, and Connection

In the above video Juliette, from another online dating service Zoosk, share her thoughts on social media etiquette which is relevant to not only online dating but online engagement in general. I thought it would be worth reminding all of us (myself included!) these very basic principles of being on your best behavior.

Juliette’s Top 3 Tips for Social Media Etiquette:

1. Mind your manners – Just because everyone else has bad manners doesn’t mean you need to as well!
2. Think before you speak – Otherwise you’ll say something you’ll regret and once it’s out there it’s out there.
3. Play well with others – You’ll make more friends, it’s always been the case.

Random, I know, but it’s relevant for a number of reasons. First, as I mentioned before, we all can use a good and healthy reminder now and again. Second, did you know that the month of January is the month for online dating? It doesn’t surprise me since many individuals (and maybe even you) include “finding love” as a New Year’s Resolution. Sites like Match.com see a jump of 55% on January 2nd – unbelievable!

Take a look at the following infographic:

All this made me think of our efforts here at WP Daily and how we can increase our engagement with other WordPressers out there as well as expanding community initiatives. You see, there are few other sites and communities more passionate about connecting with others than online dating websites.

Makes sense, right? Ever since I launched my own many years ago (one of my first startups – it was eventually acquired) I’ve been studying online dating sites and watching their strategies for engagement, marketing, and community development.

Fascinating stuff and you could learn a lot by just watching how they operate, how they incentivize growth, and how they ultimately help people meet a very basic and important human need: Connection.

This year you’ll make a lot of connections, online and hopefully offline. You’ll build that “social network,” gain followers, RSS subscribers, fans, and maybe even make a few friends. You may even attend a few WordCamps or Meetups and may even lead your earn.

But make sure you really connect with a few people this year. It’s not enough to increase your online influence and remain incredibly lonely offline.