2022
To tag or not to tag, this is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to wait
Likes and comments from Local Guides,
Or to tag anyone against a sea of rules
And by opposing end them. To die—to sleep,
No more; .....*
*I wanted to take inspiration by William Shakespeare and his Hamlet for this post about tagging and, as the title says:
To Tag or Not to Tag? Best practices and rules about tagging people in Connect
What is a tag, first of all?
A tag is a function, used on Social Media Channels, and in Connect, to mention a person using @ followed by the username of the person you want to mention.
Writing a tag on a post is a powerful way to contact a Local Guide, because the generation of a tag create a notification that is sent to the mentioned person, and appear on the notification feed, like this one
On the screenshot you can find:
- The username of the Local Guide who tagged you
- Date and time of the tag
- the link to the post or reply where the tag has been written
To simplify, we can say that a tag is a way to say to a member of Connect (Local Guide or Moderator) "Hey, I want you to come here" or "Hey, I want you to read my content"
In a single Post or Reply (including Idea Exchange; Announcement and Help Desk) we can write (generate) a maximum of ten (10) tags.
Does this mean that we can always tag 10 people?
The purpose of the post is to explain exactly this.
Do we have some written rule?
Of course we have, more than one. As always, when we are in doubt, the Local Guides in Connect have two reference docs:
- The 5 core values of Connect . I personally consider "The Five Core Values" the most important reference for a Local Guide in Connect. Five simple and clear points about our basic values. In there we can read "We’re thoughtful. How we use Connect defines the whole community’s experience, so we’re always mindful of how our actions affect others. This means being considerate in big ways (like only writing respectful things about — and to — each other) and small (like only tagging others in posts they’ll be delighted to see, since every tag generates a notification)."
- The Local Guides Program Terms and Conditions . This is the document that we confirm to have read, when we join Connect. Please check the 17 points under Local Guides Connect Content Policy. On point 8 you will read: Spam: .... "Do not repeatedly message people that you do not know" - In some case also the point 5 - Harassment, Bullying, and Threats can be considered valid
As I said, for me the most important document is The 5 core values of Connect , because it is showing the principles that we should follow, the Values. If you haven't already, please spend few minutes and read it
Why to tag?
"In the future please use @ to tag ....". How many times we have read this sentence, especially in the reply of some moderator? Personally hundreds, if not thousands of times.
As we said, a tag is a call to come, a ping or an information that we want to give to someone.
✔️ Yes - tag if you want to mention someone who is involved in your post. E.g. I am tagging here @AlejandraMaria , because she appears on my cover photo.
✔️ Yes: tag when you're replying to someone on a post. This will help, especially on a long thread, to understand who you are talking to.
✔️ Yes: tag a Moderator (one) when you need help. Just one, you don't need to tag the whole list of moderators. If the one you tagged is not available, another one will respond. Please read this excerpt from Who are the moderators on Connect? : "Please keep in mind that it may take them some time to go through all of the posts that they’ve been tagged in. Tagging Google Moderators should be done only when something urgent is happening or when you need an official answer that you can’t find elsewhere. Do not tag them just because you want them to see your post." This means that, before to ask, it would be appropriate to search for another source. Please read Need Help? - Help Us to Help You to discover how many ways we have to find an information
Why not to tag?
There are several reasons (some of them already mentioned) to avoid the use of a tag
❌ As mentioned already, "Do not tag the (Google Moderators) just because you want them to see your post". Source: Who are the moderators on Connect?
⚠️ Do not tag Local Guides that are not directly related to your post. This is more a matter of common sense, that can be found on The 5 core values of Connect (....only tagging others in posts they’ll be delighted to see..) but there is a tiny border between "thinking" and "be sure" that "they’ll be delighted to see". My personal tip is to avoid this kind of tag.
❌ Always avoid over-tagging activities. Over-tagging (tagging a lot of people that didn't replied on your post, in a single reply or in a series of replies) is discouraged in Connect and, according to the Local Guides Program Terms and Conditions , can be considered spam, because is a self promotion of your post. Again, my personal tip is to avoid this kind of behavior. Please remember to be respectful of the others.
Why there is a Limit of 10 tag, if we cannot over-tag people?
Tagging 10 people doesn't necessary means over-tagging. Sometimes a Local Guide need to tag people for a specific reason. A few example:
👉 In this post I tagged the Local Guides who attended the meet-up, because the post was about them.
👉 In this one I decided not to tag anyone, because the list of the attendees was too long, and I didn't wanted to make the post unreadable.
👉 In this Meet-up post, @KarenVChin tagged the 9 attendees, because she needed a confirmation of the participation.
Again, avoid pages over pages of tags, that makes your post unreadable (remember also that this is SPAM). Maybe you will get some more like, but my question to you is: do you write a post only for receiving likes, or because you have contents to share?
⚠️ Reporting a post
Do you feel that you have been tagged in a non appropriate way? Please check this post, to know How to report inappropriate content on Connect . "Google Moderators will review all posts flagged as inappropriate to determine whether they violate any policies. If so, appropriate action will be taken to address the issue"
Thank you
Thank you @ErmesT for your great informative post. I have a question related your post.
Not always but just once I did that I remain reserved the first comment post for tagging attendees, but than I realized something is wrong or still I have to learn more about it. So my question is that if I tag attendees in comment boxes, like 10 or 20 more other attendees, is that right way to tag? Again I want to say that I did it some time ago, and than I avoided it when I understand more about connect and still I have some confusion about this matter of difference between tagging and over tagging. But your answer, (or if you can add in your post) will be another great point for people like me who wants to learn more about tagging and over tagging.
Shukriya 🙏
Hi @KashifMisidia ji. Ermes has mentioned that maximum we can tag 10 person (related to topic) at a time in a post. If more than 10 is mentioned than it can go to spam.
You asked this question to Ermes, but I couldn't stop myself and gave my suggestions.
Thank you.
Dhanyavaad
