This is a guest post written by Mr. Javo. He blogs over at Mrjavo.com and is in the Blogging Idol competition. If you have a minute drop by and say hi.

Social media networks allow people to come together online around shared
interests, hobbies, or causes. Many people around the world, use those
social networks to share the latest posts of their blogs, getting some
targeted traffic with the possibility to attract new subscribers.

The problem starts with the people who abuse of those systems, flooding
the homepage of the respective network with their own posts. Those
people think that they are using correctly the network, or may be they
think the more posts they submit, the more traffic they will get, but
really, that’s wrong! So, let’s see the correct use of the social media
networks, but before that let’s check the advantages and disadvantages
the social networks can have:

*Advantages*

*Traffic*: As mentioned before, this is the most obvious reason
why people loves those sites. By participating on them, you can
drive tons of traffic to your blog, getting new readers and
potential subscribers or customers.

*Branding*: Besides the traffic you can get, those communities are
a perfect place to expand your brand and let the people know who
you are! This way, you will be imposing your brand in Internet,
attracting the people’s attention.

*Relationships*: This is very related to the branding point. These
communities are full of bloggers, entrepreneurs or people who just
love to share their interests. When you deal with the same group
of people for some time, you will end meeting them. By
participating in social media networks, you will make many
friends, who can be potential partners for future businesses.

*Learning*: In every social media network, you will meet people
with the same interest than you. Commonly, you will receive many
articles related to your interests, and probably you will learn a
lot by reading them. Remember, everyday there are something new to
learn about.

As you can see, the social networks are very productive to your blog or
business, helping you to establish your authority. Let’s check how you
are supposed to use those communities:

*Don’t Spam*: This is the gold rule you should never break. If you
start submitting all your own posts, the other users will notice
something weird in your behavior. If you continue with the same
attitude, you will be reported as spammer! If so, you will get
banned from the social network, so avoid doing this!

*Take Part In The Network*: If you join to a network just for the traffic it
can drive for your blog, you are lost. If you want to expand your
brand, be a recognized figure and get credibility among other
bloggers, you should be and active and good user.

*Be Genuine*: What I want to say with this point, is that you
should submit and share to those social media networks, the
content you consider useful to your friends. You should not start
submitting whatever you see on internet to get karma points or
something, because you will be seen as a spammer, and you know
what happens then…

After reading this, do you think that using social media networks can
have a disadvantage? Well, I don’t think so! If you use them correctly
and with property, all you can get from those communities is traffic,
information and good relationships, which easily can help you to promote
your product in a future, for example. So, be a good user and avoid
spamming!