Imagine it’s 2006-ish. You just made the brave leap from MySpace to this newfangled website called Facebook, and the flourishing world of social media is a shiny, somewhat new, and scary place. Gone are the days of creating witty AIM away messages or selecting MySpace songs; it is time to usher in the era of profile pictures, status updates and photo albums.
The last 10-15 years since Facebook began its slow takeover of the free world have been a confusing time of navigating what to post, what filter to use, how often to post, and who to be “friends” with. Social media is both a blessing and a curse. It brings us closer to people we care about and allows us to stay in touch with those who live far away, but on the flip side, it has also created a culture of oversharing, ego-centrism, and content overload.
While we don’t claim to be the ultimate experts when it comes to personal social media page etiquette (we are experts, however, when it comes to using social media as part of an overall marketing plan), after intense and robust research (aka polling the 8THIRTYFOUR staff), we have found that the following social media annoyances are not only irritating to the general-newsfeed-scroller, but could potentially land you in hot water. Be cool, and try to avoid:
1) Impressively lazy grammar mistakes
We know that personal social media is typically seen as a casual medium for expressing your thoughts, but that doesn’t mean it’s okay to throw all proper grammar out the window. Eyes roll dangerously far back into heads when people read captions like “Your my #mancrush everyday and are love will last 4evr”.
If your social pages have any public settings, remember that anyone can see the captions that are written, including your potential employers or clients. If you are working in an industry where good grammar and a lack of written mistakes are important, your constant misuse of “their” and “there” or “your” and “you’re” may be an issue. Before clicking “post,” take an extra twenty seconds to read over what you have written and consult a dictionary if needed. You will thank yourself later.
2) Not thinking before sharing
If you’re going to re-share information with all of your friends and followers, make sure it is credible and that you aren’t recklessly spreading false information. Before clicking “share,” be sure to read the article in its entirety and make sure the source is legitimate.
Another thing that some people on social media find difficult to grasp is the idea of sarcasm or satirical content. If you see an article with a title like “6 reasons why it is a good idea to stare directly into the sun,” chances are it is an Onion-like article and not something you need to get too upset about.
3) Mushy post overload
When you’re in love you want to scream it from the mountain tops, and for many, that itch has turned into constant status updates talking about their #ManCrushMonday or #WomanCrushWednesday. If you just got engaged or your boyfriend parachuted onto a boat in the middle of the ocean to surprise you for your birthday, then yes, post away. No need to share with the world in a 500-word status that your girlfriend let you have the last fry (although that is a super nice gesture).
4) Constant updates and oversharing
Now we know this might be hard to hear, but unless you are Beyoncé or Tom Hanks, your timeline better not look like the below, because your coworker, your friend’s dad and that guy you went to high school with do not care about every little detail of your life.
TIMELINE
1:24pm – Just put clothes in the wash. What should I watch on TV while I wait?
1:55pm – Washer is done! #blessed
2:50pm – Nothing like warm clothes fresh out of the dryer. #blessedagain
3:47pm – What should I eat for dinner? #cleaneating
5:59pm – Good news – I decided on Bagel Bites for dinner.
Go forth and don’t be annoying!
If you’re curious about proper social media posting etiquette for businesses or brands, give us a call or fill out the form below…we won’t judge, we are here to help.
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