We’ve all put our foot in it at the worst possible time. Meetings, dinners, romantic catastrophes – failing to use appropriate etiquette often leads to trouble. Furthermore, when speaking on social media, any faux pas you stumble into won’t just vanish into the air. As anyone who’s left up ill-advised Facebook posts before a job interview might tell you, it’s always worth being very careful what you say on a public platform. In the information age, the internet rarely forgets. So, be you brand, business, or bellwether, you’d best pay attention when the strategy-savvy Komodo clues you in to social media etiquette.

Let’s use Instagram etiquette as a quick example. Even back in prehistoric 2015, publications like Vogue laid out their selection of the most vital Instagram rules, and while many still hold up (such as the avoidance of excessive hashtags, filters, and needless uploads), things have changed in the last six years. They advise against posting videos, considering them less like-worthy, but when Instagram Stories emerged a year after this article, videos found a more welcoming home on the platform. We hope Vogue don’t take our response to their article too seriously, as we share their love of all things stylish (like our talent).

While much of Vogue’s advice is still broadly accurate, it has aged, and times have changed. As the number of monthly Instagram users has more than doubled since 2015, much of what they instruct has since become second-nature to those with even a vague understanding of social media. The continued rise of the influencer tells us that what’s truly in vogue is authenticity. Yes, there are several rules of thumb that can help anyone make an impact online, such as knowing when it’s best to make your posts, but in 2021, even social media etiquette for business should rely on a human foundation. We could walk through a bulleted list of pointers, but Komodo never do normal. Instead, let’s hear a cautionary tale.

The Tramp Stamps, a purported punk band, have not displayed the best understanding of modern online etiquette. Having been declared the ‘most hated band on TikTok’ by Vox in April, the group’s history is somewhat convoluted. Put simply, despite the band’s self-presentation as being an organic musical entity, research by sceptical users determined this to be a fabrication. Band members had deep ties with infamous industry contacts, and their supposedly independent label turned out to essentially be a subsidiary of Kobalt Music Group. There’s more to be said of the controversy surrounding industry plants, but what this can teach us today is that the Tramp Stamps committed one of the greatest etiquette crimes possible today: inauthenticity.

Now, obviously, most brands can’t go around pretending to not be businesses. No matter the industry, it would be unproductive and fruitless for companies to pretend they aren’t part of a larger industry. It certainly wouldn’t be good for Komodo, for example. The point is that modern social media users, especially younger people, have trained themselves to sniff out anything ingenuine. Olivia Rodrigo, for example, has never concealed her connections – she was a child star before becoming a pop star. Obviously, this hasn’t prevented her from being a hit with today’s youth, as she has never tried to present an alternative authenticity to her own.

As for the Tramp Stamps, it seems they can’t help but stick out among the more home-grown members of the genre they’ve attempted to infiltrate. After being chased off of TikTok, the band tried to transition to Tumblr. While this platform isn’t as widely-used by businesses, and this latest development hasn’t been widely reported on, they have been met with similar disdain, seemingly having done no research on the platform’s own distinct and impermeable culture.

Ultimately, to avoid modern faux pas, you should never disguise your purpose. Sponsorships, for instance, are rarely met with negativity when an influencer discloses them. Brands can and should develop personable interactions with their customers on social media, but should always maintain transparency. It is a difficult balance to maintain, so if you need guidance on managing your socials, or are looking to spark an influencer campaign the right way, you can always call on Komodo.