Netiquette 101: Search *Before* You Ask In Social
September 10, 2012 
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This is something that’s been true long before the current wave of social tools existed. Back in the days when boards and forums reigned supreme, you would have been slaughtered if you asked something without using that site’s search function first to dig up previous threads.
Now the web is bigger, more content is being added daily, and there’s even more ideas out there. About everything. It shows a total disregard for the time of those in your network (and can actually make you look bad) if you ask something in social without conducting a simple web search first. But I see it daily both personally and professionally, people asking something in social when search could have solved their issue instantly.
Despite social not being new and this being a simple netiquette 101 thing, from my own observations this persists.
So with that, some things to think about …
Your network may not have the best answers. Search results on most platforms (both horizontal and vertical) usually take into account diversity, aggregation and incentives at a scale larger than your friends. Use this to your advantage to find the best information.
Use social to refine your research. If you’re going to ping your network with a question about, say a new piece of software, do your homework first and flesh out a “hit list” of what you’re considering. Then use your network to help refine it. Being specific here will not only get you better answers, those brands may even join the discussion and answer your questions. Search, learn, then start threads. Simple.
Dig into previous discussions on social platforms. The exact thread you’re starting may have already been covered exhaustively. And while some things change at a rapid pace, change isn’t that fast for most things. A great garlic chicken pasta recipe is probably pretty timeless. There’s plenty of value of the archives, don’t always obsess over what’s new, now when you can find what’s best. And realize frequently those in your network who are web savvy are just searching for answers and posting the responses.
Use tools before people. Professionally, this one is so true. Every time you ping your network for something you are in a sense using up some of your trust and equity built with them. If you ping them only when you really need something they’ll be far more likely to devote time to a response than if you pester them with things you could solve on your own.
What do you think? Do you notice this with your networks too? Is it just a flood of new social users who don’t understand netiquette?
And if you’re not yet a power searcher, take advantage of some of the amazing resources to become better at search today.
image credit: Shutterstock
Bonnie Chomica replied | Sep 10, 2012 (1 comment)
Great advice, Adam. I think people are just lazy, so they blast their social sites first. But, you’re so right. There are lots of answers in search results.
Would you phone up a business colleague and ask them what their favourite garlic chicken recipe is? Probably not. So, search for your answer first.
Thomas Maynard replied | Sep 11, 2012 (1 comment)
Sometimes it is hard to realize how much information is available to use just by doing a quick google search. Research life has become so much easier with the advancement of the internet. It is hard to imagine a day where people had to go to library to check out a book to find out information about a topic.
Despite this fact, I still think people generally lazy. Instead of doing the dirty work and finding out about a topic or issue individually, it is easy to ask around to see what comes back. I think that the average social user may not be aware or does not have the motivation to put in the work first before they ask for help.
Daniel replied | Sep 12, 2012 (1 comment)
“Think before you speak.” As obvious this might seem, many people are just ignoring it and we are all witnesses of what we can see on social media.
I just hope that many people will see this post and will think about it for a while, if they, for example, are doing exactly the things, you are pointing out in your post. Thanks, Adam.
Mac replied | Sep 12, 2012 (1 comment)
..and there are some rules more.
be polite
try to write understandable and with interpuction ;)
and as a thumb of rule : if you don’t exert onself, why should do that others for you.
Jamie replied | Sep 13, 2012 (7 comments)
Great view points. I think it is very important for people to be very cautious using their social media because the outcome is never predictable. Watch what you put on the internet, there is no way to remove it once its there. Thanks for sharing.
Jamie@ Franchise Public Relations
talkic social good replied | Sep 14, 2012 (2 comments)
This is one of those “look at me and how interesting I am” actions in the social media world.
Jon Stinchcomb replied | Sep 17, 2012 (2 comments)
This issue still surprises me when I come across it. People have been making this mistake for as a long as I can remember despite how easy they’ve made searching on so many different platforms.
Dave lawyer replied | Sep 29, 2012 (1 comment)
Pros? There’s a ton of information out there. If you can’t find exactly what your looking for, you’ll get darn close to finding it and get a little knowledge along the way.
Cons? There’s a ton of information out there :)
Jake Sterling replied | Nov 7, 2012 (2 comments)
This one is a biggie for me, it’s amazing how many people ask the simplest questions that they can find the answers to by simply searching. The one thing you missed pointing out is that unfortunately some people are plain lazy and prefer to have someone else do the “search” work for them and get them the answer. Heaven forbid they actually have to do a search on their own and take their own time to find an answer!