I like this day for some reason so I decided that instead of a very long post like normal I’d address the overall issue of social media… in fewer words than I normally do.
I have to admit that overall I like social media a lot. I don’t love it… mainly because of the bad things about it that irritates my last nerve! I know I’m not alone on this one, but I figure it’s my list of things so I’ll talk about what I believe are mistakes people in general make.
Two things. One, if you’re not making these mistakes then obviously this isn’t about you, but you can still comment because I’m betting some of these things will irritate you. Two, a couple of these irritate me less than other things, but if folks corrected them we’d all be happier and your online life would be better also. Here we go!
1. Add a picture to your profiles.
Really, who do you think you’re hiding from? If I wanted to I could track 95% of you on a bad day, and others can also. If you’re going to be online and want to talk to people add an image. If you want to do business online add a picture of yourself. Logos are at least something but unless people always know your business they’ll do more business with people they like, and they can’t like you without a picture of you.
2. Stop pushing your sales every chance you get.
I get it; you want to make money. So do I. However, no one buys from people they don’t like or know, and if all they know about you is that you’re selling something they’re not going to buy from you because they don’t know you.
3. Don’t be a troll.
I hate trolls with a passion. They don’t offer anything worth bothering over, and get their kicks from making others have to deal with them in public. However, sometimes there are unintentional trolls; I came across a lot of them during the 2008 presidential election and dropped lots of people I previously thought I liked online… and never went back. If I did it, others will do it also; trust me on this one.
4. Stop co-opting other people’s messages and threads.
I’ve been putting a lot of content on LinkedIn lately. Some of it is related to health care topics because, when all is said and done, I’m a health care finance consultant. What happens every once in a while is some idiot (aka troll) comes along and drops, in essence, an “it’s Obama’s fault (since I refuse to use the pejorative term for the ACA)… when it has nothing to do with the topic. If you have an agenda, create your own topic and put it there; leave others alone.
5. Stop sharing things that you haven’t verified because they might not be true.
I got into a minor disagreement one night on Facebook because this woman posted something that was blatantly false. She didn’t believe me so I gave her 4 or 5 sources showing her it was false. Instead of believing those she said I was bullying her (she started the thing in my opinion) and would believe what she wanted to believe. If you’re too lazy to check your facts and you get called on it, don’t take it out on the messenger. However, if it sounds outrageous to begin with and you’re posting it… well, just stop doing it.
6. Stop sending stuff out looking for people to participate in something to make you feel good.
There’s nothing wrong with sharing your stuff with people you know. It’s another thing to share something or create something where, for people to prove how much they care about you, they have to share it or comment or it or do what it says in relation to you. Believe it or not, social media really isn’t all about you… or me (though it should be lol).
7. Know your platforms and what works best on them.
LinkedIn is supposed to be for business. Yet, lately there are a lot of people putting up the same kinds of pictures and jokes that used to be relegated to Facebook, where they actually belong.
LinkedIn is for business. Facebook is for friends & family. Twitter is for immediate engagement. Google Plus is for… well… I’m still not really sure, but I know it’s not for family and not truly for business. But images look great there. lol
8. Just because you like the latest and greatest thing doesn’t mean you need to keep trying to get me to join all of them.
There was a time when I could keep up with all the latest social media platforms, apps and the like; not anymore. Truthfully, I don’t care all that much about them; when I’m ready I’ll find what I need and move on from there. However, I get tons of email from people I know (and some I don’t think I do) introducing me to the newest thing and inviting me to join them there. You know what; write about it on your blog, and I’ll eventually see it.
9. Every once in a while share someone else’s content, comment on their blogs, and talk to them.
I love Twitter because I get to talk to new people all the time. Yet, there are a lot of people I reach out to that never respond. The same happens here and there on LinkedIn and Facebook and even Google Plus. Thing is, I almost never connect with anyone first; people connect with me, I evaluate and make a determination if I might have some common interest with them.
I also try to share what other people do in some fashion. I share things on most of the social media platforms, or I comment on LinkedIn articles and definitely on blogs. Hey, they don’t call it SOCIAL media for their health! If you’re not going to engage, if you’re not going to share… get off social media because you’re not worth the time of the rest of us. Yeah, I said it! lol
There, 9 things… of course, it turned out to be much longer than I anticipated. That’s how it goes sometimes. So, comment, then share, and I’ll see what I can do for you as well. Have a wonderful day.
I think I’m pretty good on all these points though sometimes I’m guilty of crossing the lines a little bit. I find myself pulling back from a lot of social media activity of late because of the time consumption factor. I’ve seen a number of others in my blogging community stating an intent to do the same or just basically disappearing with maybe a quick temporary return telling readers what’s going on and then disappearing again.
Maybe it’s a cycle bloggers and others who are active in social media go through? Have you seen any similar trends from your point of view?
Lee
Arlee, I see it happen often with bloggers and here and there with Facebook. I think if people aren’t getting good engagement, and if they keep seeing a lot of negative messages going back and forth, it’s dispiriting and drives people away. Some folks get too involved, get into fights, share too much, get embarrassed because they haven’t quite figured out the difference between sharing their lives and sharing too much, along with the concept that freedom of speech goes both ways… and it drives them out of the game.
So yes, I do see it. But I don’t concentrate on those folks. I concentrate on those who figure it out, stick around, share and have fun and do their own thing. Yeah! 🙂
Hi Mitch, I love this one! I can be guilty of #8 but I haven’t been testing out the latest and greatest lately. Not enough hours in the day. #9 is my pet peeve. I can’t stand seeing others only posting their own stuff 90% of the time. And I’ve seen a lot of folks re-tweeting my tweets of their stuff – a little self fulfilling isn’t it?
Lisa, there’s nothing wrong with feeling self fulfilled when someone else shares your stuff; after all, you do it often yourself. That’s what it’s all about; giving and getting. 🙂 I think when social media was still pretty new, along with the internet, testing all these new things out was a lot of fun. Maybe if both of us were 20 years younger it would still be a lot of fun… but we’re not. Eventually I get to some things but overall, I don’t want to be pushed. Write about it and I’ll read when I’m ready; just stop inviting me to everything! lol
hey mitch it’s really amazing that i am reading this post because few of from these 9 points are i am following and few of of them are really i even don’t know especially the points no 4,6,8 and 9 are even i don’t know so thanks for your share,Mitch.
Then let’s get with it Rahul, and see your fans clamor for your attention more! 🙂
Sure shot sir ,
I will try my best to happen this thing.
Hi Mitch Sir,
This is really the best article from you so far I read. Running behind money and traffic, most of the people don’t bother to know the mistakes they do on social media. I have been a part of many social media websites and a thing which I would say is most idiotic so far i.e, not adding a picture to their profiles. That is a very poor strategy in terms of promoting your business. I agree that you should have at least your company or product logo so that they know your business.
Thank you
Mohit,
Thanks for your comment Mohit. I know, after all these years I’m still amazed at how many people don’t understand the importance of pictures in making good impressions on others. I think there should be mandatory rules for each person new to social media to pass a test. lol
Hi Mitch,
At only point #2, I was all ready to jump on how important that point is! I am always trying to explain that to new-ish business owners and even marketing managers at larger companies, and have limited success. The few people I know who just share valuable, useful, or even just visually attractive content on social media, and NEVER do posts pushing for sales, build a following so much more quickly. Many business owners that are new to social media don’t realize they have to give people a reason to be interested in the page, and users aren’t just going to start following a company they have no connection to even if it sells a product they’re in the market for.
That being said, all of your points are very valuable, and the other one I relate to most is the hijacking on LinkedIn. In the case of spam… does that ever work? I mean, has it ever worked once? Even worse are the posts I constantly see in my feed anytime I go on LinkedIn anymore, where the comments under the top article are blaming some totally unrelated issue on certain politicians/the pejorative name of that certain act.
And these are ostensibly professional people, not kids in high school who have more of an excuse for trolling. Well, more of an excuse than 52-year old “Dan Barney Esquire, Chief Creative Attorney for Fortune 500 companies.” As irritating as it is to constantly see these comments under articles in my feed every single day, I refrain from responding because… well, energy and time. Plus, it’s my real name and it’ll show to my entire business network (why doesn’t that stop them?).
Sorry for the meandering wall of text, but this is what happens when you haven’t left a comment on a blog in, say… a year. 🙂 I’ll spare you my emphatic agreement with your other points for now.
Jack
Hi Jack; what a wonderful comment. When it comes to #2, most of the time I check people out ahead of time & if I see that’s their pattern I won’t even connect with them. However, I do see some other folks that get into those modes here and there; at long as they’re sharing other stuff it’s not a big deal but come on, every 5 minutes? Sheesh! lol
As to the other points, I always wonder what makes adults become so stupid on social media when most of them wouldn’t do that sort of thing if you were standing in front of them. At least in front of people it’ll probably go away quicker; stupidity never goes away on social media.
Of course I had to go look up Dan Barney; it’s what I do. No picture on LinkedIn, no website; that’s all I’ve got on him. I think he could use some social media consulting. 🙂
Hi Mitch,
I think I’m following all these points.
Because without these steps it’s pointless to connect with social media network, I believe.
But, these tips are very much needed for most of the people.. Even I don’t know why people put actors or other celebrities pictures as their profile picture.
Good post Mitch and keep up the good work.
Thanks Thyrone. Yeah, the celebrity thing makes absolutely no sense to me either.
Social is an important part of life now. And of course, it begins being a very important method to make money of many people. With some people, it is simply a place to share anything they like, but with others, it may be their life. Thank you for helpful article, Mitch. I\’ve learned so much interesting points from your site.
No problem Cindy; I think you captured what social really is all about and what happens with some people.
Hello! So, this is an interesting post lol. The first thing that stood out to me was #5, because it reminds me of a particular person on my friends-list on FB. They are constantly sharing links that are from satire sites for example – they take the title and small excerpt as total truth and quickly pass it on. Oh what difference a little proofreading on what they are interested in sharing could make for some of these people!
I think I’m doing pretty good in regards to this list. I know I’m not a troll, and I am very much a fan of bloggers and love to positively comment on and share what I like to read. If I don’t like what I see, I don’t waste anyone’s time including my own…just keep it moving 🙂
Anyway, nice post here.
That’s a great share Tenille. I just can’t figure out what makes people so lazy that they can’t check out some of the stuff they share. I’m glad you’re doing well based on the list; I figure if you weren’t you wouldn’t have commented. 😉 Welcome!
Great article! I totally agree! Especially the part abut linked in! I hate that people are using it not properly now…
I figure it is what it is, and hopefully the folks who created it will improve it.
Thanks for the information. It was really helpful as people are sharing too much information on social media which can lead to people getting hurt. Hope more people read your post.
That would be nice Sharath; we’ll see how it goes over time.
Great point Mitch Sir!
I hate them who is not accepting these point. When its comes to our blogging carrier than These points are more valuable. In today’s world Social is an important way of life. Thanks for your explains, I am agree with all of your points. Now I am your fan and you have to give your valuable time to us to learn better.
Thanks for your words Purushottam; I try hard. 😉
Thank you Mitch for this article.
You are absolutely right about all of these.
I think that people should especially remember about sticking to not more than 3 social media platforms in order to use them effectively and establish meaningful relations with potential customers!
All the best!
Bartosz
Bartosz,
You are right, in order to rich our thoughts/openions in front of more audience we have to give focus on all type of social media’s. We have to actively work on their that what people are saying what they are suggesting and all if we did it. Then we get more audiens. So the profit is ours only.
Cheers,
Rahul
Actually Bartosz, I’m connected to more than 3… but not all that many more than 3. Most of the time we acknowledge that there are 4 main social media sites, then those smaller sites for specific things. That’s okay as long as people don’t overextend.
Hi Mitch,
I guess my first time stopping here, right?
One very thing I love the most about this post is the uniqueness, most of what I use to come across in content with such headline are not here.
I take this nine mistakes to be your personal observations and dislikes.
I’ll like to add one more, “tagging”.
I hate it with passion when people tag me unnecessarily to things that doesn’t have any significant value to either our friendship, business or even fun.
It really annoys me and makes me want to block such user.
Thanks Mitch, nice reading.
Welcome Shamsudeen, and I have to wholeheartedly agree with that one. On Facebook especially when people are promoting something local and they tag you, having to know there’s no possible way you could get there even if you wanted to. Definitely irritating; good share!
I will add one more: Using third part online web application to get Likes such as Autolikers, which are not safe and good to use.
Thanks for sharing 🙂
Oh yeah, that’s a horrible idea so many people do & fall into.