When I was younger, my mom used to have a shop in the market. Whenever I screwed up, she would lock the both of us in the shop and beat me till I saw lines and stripes (I was a stubborn child). Then she’d cap it off with a saying, “I’m flogging you so that you won’t go out there and disgrace me.”
Social media is the 21st century equivalent of the market place. And here are six unspoken but important things you should endeavour to stop doing on social media. It may sound harsh but it’s for your own good, so you’ll not go and disgrace yourself.
1. Being too serious
Some folks don’t know how to make jokes. That’s fair. Not everyone can be Trevor Noah. But it’s a crime not being able to take a joke. They’re always talking about the “meaning” of life, the seven keys to becoming a guru before your 25th birthday and so on. Yawn. Take a playful jab at them and they either block you or ignore you.
Seriously, if that just described you, you should cease and desist.
There’s nothing wrong with this per se, but there’s something wrong if that’s ALL you do on social media. Social media is not really the place to pontificate. If that’s what you really want to do, start a blog.
2. Being a bot
Some people are drones. All they do is share and retweet. Not saying sharing is wrong, but who are you? What’s your own opinion? Let’s hear what you think. This isn’t the visa to become a troll (see my next point) but we all know you have thoughts on trending topics. Social media is not the place to be cagey. It’s called social for a reason. Jump in there and mix it up with friends and total strangers. It’s one of the wonders of the 21st century.
3. Follow back syndrome
This is personal. Of all the points I’ve listed so far, none gets me worked up as much as this. Please, stop telling people to follow you back. It’s not a contract. If you’re interesting enough, I’ll follow you. If you’re not, too bad. Bandwidth is precious and costs money. Can’t be wasting it on your irrelevant ideas and poor grammar.
And don’t think we’re not onto your trick of following for a few days, and then unfollowing. It’s juvenile. Please stop.
4. Picking fights in “public”
Repeat after me: Celebrities may, I may not.
It looks like every month, a celebrity is picking a fight with another celebrity. I guess it’s part of the PR cycle. “Getting irrelevant? Pick someone trendy and spout trash about him/her.”
That’s for celebrities though. Last time you checked, did you have over a million followers? No? Then take this advice to heart.
When you post a comment, it’s okay for people to disagree with you. You voiced your opinion, they voice theirs. It’s also okay to explain yourself further, for clarity. But tread carefully; there’s a thin line between having a conversation and arguing. If it’s something that you’re both passionate about, take it into a DM. Please, for all our sakes.
5. Always selling
This sort of explains itself. We all have that one friend. She never shows up to join a conversation except if it’s to tell us about this “really great website that offers amazing discounts” or whenever she has “high heel shoes for sale, very affordable.” Smh.
If I was president, there’d be a special prison just for you.
6. Undignified pictures and words
The next time you want to post something, remember this: your next employer may see that post. Or to put it another way, that post may be the deciding factor on whether you get the job or not. I’m not kidding. It happened to me. Thank God I’d done some spring cleaning before my interview.
Hateful comments, over indulgence, or even rude remarks about your current workplace or boss will also get your brand equity pummeling into the bin.
Come to think of it, I think someone tagged me in a very uncouth picture on Facebook. The boss definitely shouldn’t see that one.
Excuse me.
Photo Credit: Leo Reynolds via Compfight cc
