We all go through life with perceptions of what things are and what things are not, how things should be done and how they should not. The use of Social Media is no different. Some believe there are defined rules for how Social should be used, that there is an etiquette to be followed.

There are some key guidelines that make sense if you want to succeed in using Social Media for your business, but these are no more than common sense principles that apply in other areas of business. Listen, plan, have a strategy.

One of the common misconceptions is that you should follow back everyone that follows you.

This made sense in the early days of Twitter as there just weren’t many people on board. To get the network in motion it required some form of reciprocity. Now with millions of users spanning thousands of interests all with different aims, reciprocal following just isn’t necessary, and can even be detrimental to your ability to manage your network.

So when Chris Brogan announced he was un-following everyone, 131,000 people, this week, it created quite a stir in Social Media circles. If you read his post on the subject, The Great Unfollow Experiment of 2011, you will understand his actions. Even more pertinent is that Chris is one of the people in this space who is prepared to experiment, to the benefit of us all.

This weeks piece of wisdom then; try something different, don’t be afraid to experiment, use common sense, but you have an opportunity to create the rules rather than follow them in today’s Internet age.

On to this weeks Tweets, again five of the best, according to me a least, for Sean’s Week On Twitter #13. If you disagree or have some alternatives please leave them in the comments below.

Explore Twitter Hashtags and their Relationships

Hashtags are widely used on Twitter as sign posts to connected information, allowing you to follow related subject matter without necessarily following the individuals themselves. In beta, Hashtagify is a fantastic way to explore the use of hashtags on Twitter and the top influencers that are related to them.

Case Study: How Did a Unique Ice Cream Shop Get 300,000 Twitter Followers?

Do you have a small business and can’t seem to find a way to leverage Social Media? Then this case study should provide some insight and inspiration. You don’t have to be a blogger or big brand to grow a following online.

5 Vanity Metrics to Stop Measuring (And Better Alternatives)

Fans, Followers, Page Views, Open Rates and Number of Users, are these the right metrics for your business? Probably not. Find out why and what you should measure instead with this great article form Hubspot.

Google Analytics Demystifies Visitor Behaviour With Multi-Channel Funnel Reports

Analysing visitor behaviour on your web site can help you make important business decisions about what is and isn’t working. With these new reports you can now identify if more than one source or campaign has contributed to an end user conversion, sale or sign-up. This is invaluable as it was easy to discount the effect of some campaigns if they were not being attributed the conversion due to not being the last click.

CNN Acquires iPad Newsreading App Zite

The way in which we consume content online is evolving fast. Tablet devices are accelerating that change. Recognising the popularity of Apps that take news and present it in a more readable and pleasant format, CNN have acquired Zite. I use this application regularly as an alternate way to read RSS feeds. Let’s hope that CNN add the commerciality to keep the App going, but leave the founders to continue with their vision.

I welcome your comments below.