5 Commandments of Social Media

In Chapter two titled "From Chaos, Structure," from the book The New Influencers, Paul Gillin discusses the blogosphere. He explains who is involved, what it is exactly, gives some examples, and asks the question "which way will the blogosphere go" (Gillin 17). He also discusses standards of behavior when it comes to blogging, emerging standards of blog maintenance, the five commandments of social media, and the next level of the blogosphere.

One of the most detailed sections of this chapter talks about the five commandments of social media. These five commandments are as follows:

1. Thou shalt link: Gillin states that "links are the currency of the blogosphere" (21). He just wants the audience to understand that links have many advantages and make a blog post more interesting and interactive.

2. Thou shalt not diss: Gillin just explains that blogs are meant to be informative and at times competitive, but there is no need for disrespect. Many blogs out there are rude and disrespectful, but that is not what blogs are meant to be.

3. Thou shalt be transparent: Blogs should be filled with honesty and integrity and the authors of blogs should be open-minded and fair. Gillin compares blogs to diaries, which is a great comparison because blogs are pretty much meant to be like an online journal or diary.

4. Thou shalt comment: Blogs are naked without comments, the more comments the better!

5. Thou shalt not blather: Blogs are meant to be informative, but not lengthy. Short and sweet is good, no one wants to fall asleep reading a long exhausting blog.


Gillin ends with explaining that the blogosphere is developing into a "extraordinarily civil and deferential culture" (Gillin 27). Which of course he is right! Blogging has become one of the most popular ways of communication on the web and has developed into its own interesting culture. Great chapter!