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Be a Social SQL DBA Superhero - #SQLHelp

,

Following up on my previous blog

on introducing the “Social DBA”, I spoke about the concept of leveraging

social networking to excel

in your professional database career. 

The Microsoft SQL Server technical community is quite a unique and

diverse bunch, with the commonality of SQL Server technology that binds.  One of the social networking tools at your

disposal, as previously mentioned, is Twitter

and the handy dandy helpful hashtag called #sqlhelp. 

It’s an unassuming little tag, that opens up a near-real

time communication channel to SQL Server subject matter experts, MVPs, MCMs and

all folks with practical experiences and knowledge in the SQL Server product

stack, and related tech. All at the ready to provide a quick tell answer, which

can save your bacon, help you resolve issues quicker, and better than ever

before.  Use this powerful platform wisely,

and you will be the DBA hero, and excel in your career.  Of course with great power, comes great

responsibility.  And that means, you need

to know how to use it. 

That brings us to today’s key discussion point: how to use

#sqlhelp properly.  In essence, hashtag etiquette.  To review, remember these 5 #SQLHELP twitter

commandments:

mosestablets

  Thou shall not post

any other tweets under #SQLHelp other than SQL related questions! 

  Thou shalt honor and respect the tag! 

            

  Thou shalt not use the tag in vain!

  Thou shalt not SPAM the tag!

  Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s tweet

Ok, now that I’m down from the

mountain :-), this means no spamming the hashtag, no marketing, no blog promos,

no job posting, nor any advertisements, etc.!  No sharing links, unless it’s pertinent to

the question and/or answer. No politics and no hobbies! Don’t flood the tag

with useless and irrelevant tweets.  Here

are (10) ten tips for #SQLHelp etiquette and minding your twitter tag manners:

1.     

Use it wisely – only for Q&A – don’t spam

the tag!

2.     

No sharing links, blogs, postings, hobbies,

politics (said that)

3.     

KISS – Keep it Simply SQL

4.     

Indicate the version & sp1, abbreviate: ex:

SQL2K8r2 sp1

5.     

Keep it under 140 characters (no choice there)

6.     

No multiple posts for one question/issue, no

epic dramas.

7.     

Upload screenshots to Twitter, Photobucket, Instagram, etc.

8.     

Post your questions to forums like

SQLServerCentral.com, and DBA.StackExchange.com

9.     

Post your files, code, logs to file share (ie:OneDrive/Dropbox)

10.  

Use Shortened Links! (bit.ly,

tinyurl)

 

OK, so just

wanted to expand on number 6. No multiple posts for one question/issue; no epic

dramas.  In other words, we need to

describe or highlight the issue as precisely as possible, given the 140

character limitation. 

DON’T DO THIS:

#sqlhelp Hi, I have a question about SQL Server

clustering using 3 1/20

#sqlhelp nodes in an Active/Active/Passive model

with 10 instances and 2/20

#sqlhelp getting the following errors from the logs….3/20

#sqlhelp A

SQL Server cluster resource goes to a "failed" state AND also…..4/20

#sqlhelp …please advise as my manager is standing

here, and users are pissed 20/20

 

DO, DO THIS:

#sqlhelp

OMG! SQL2K8r2 sp1 db suspect. Err:824 c DBCC output: bit.ly/dbcc1 W2DO? TIA

I hope these

helpful #sqlhelp tweeting tips will get you what you need to succeed, and you

remember the 5 #SQLHELP commandments. 

With you helping the hashtag, the hashtag will be of invaluable help to

you!  And of course, the flip side is, you should be giving back to the community, and posting your own answers, if you know how to solve any questions that show up.

Now, go forth and tweet!  Be a SQL Server SuperHero! 

                                                                                                      Captain SQL CaptainSQL


If you are interested in a DBA strategy and hands-on book, read Healthy SQL – A

Comprehensive Guide to Healthy SQL Server Performance, published by Apress, you can go to the url:

                     http://bit.ly/orderHealthySQLnow

  You can also

get the book on Amazon: http://bit.ly/HealthySQLonAmazon

  For all

things SQL, news, events, jobs, info, and other fun tweets, follow me on

twitter @Pearlknows and join the #HealthySQL campaign to

keep your SQL Servers healthy!

 

 


 

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