SMARTER MINDS: 8 Dos and Don'ts of Online Social Networks

Okay, I have tried to keep this really short and simple. Take note and enjoy.

Dos

Brand yourself Create a universal name (your full name or nickname) across all your sites; this makes it easy for your friends to find you. It doesn't mean that you should write your life story here.
Read and comment on other’s posts Don’t just remain anonymous, actively participate in discussions and friends posts but kept it polite.
Contacts Maintain a strong and useful friend list and followership esp. on Facebook and Twitter and keep their number limited so as to be able to keep track of your friends.
Be Active Avoid having a ‘dead’ profile, maintain a real and sustained presence, come only every now frequently to say hi, this is important in order to build a strong personality.
Quick reply This is very important in IMs like Facebook chat, BBM, 2go. Reply messages as fast as you can, no one likes to be kept waiting, do not be annoyed or send any provocative message when someone ignores you.
Privacy Respect people’s privacy, if they don’t want to talk about an issue, back off! They might open up later.
Play it cool and safe I know everyone wants to be a Mr. Macho or Miss. Know-it-all but on the internet, you can never be too safe.
Important people first You can’t chat with everybody at the same time. Make sure you chat with those that are close and important first and be sure to use your discretion in private chats.

Don’ts

Lies Sooner or later, lying will catch up with you, don’t lie about your age, sex, location etc leave out any information you are not ready to give out.
Scam No one likes unsolicited messages, or too much adverts especially in chat rooms, do not excessively market your product, service or website. Lots of people have gotten themselves deleted or banned by doing so.
Stalking Don’t give people unwanted and obsessive attention and don’t appear too eager or desperate, it puts people off.
Negativity No one stays around negative people, save social media from your personal frustrations but you can seek help on issues. Don’t go around attacking people.
Pictures of others Don’t post questionable pictures of others without getting their permission first, it is so not polite.
Quiet Don’t keep everything to yourself, you need to talk about yourself and things around you to maintain a healthy chat but remain cautious and don’t give out sensitive information.
Forwarding Don’t and don’t forward or post any broadcast you receive without verifying its genuineness. It can be annoying to people who had already received such already.
Meeting people Don’t meet with people you met online without telling someone else, make sure it is in a public place and someone accompanies you when going for the first time.