5 social media personalities that you don't want to be

A while ago, I posted this on my Facebook Page:  

Tip: When you're annoyed about friends' social media posts, remember that you're in their space. If you don't like it, hide, unfriend, unfollow, but don't expect them to change.

Fortunately, social media is a completely permission-based platform. It's not like junk mail, telemarketing calls, or spam in your inbox that you didn't ask for but are forced to receive. On all social media platforms, you choose who to follow, pay attention when you want to, and unfollow when you choose to do so.

But we all surely have a friend or two who uses their social media accounts in a manner that annoys or irritates others. Are you that person? Yes, it’s your feed, and you can use it however you see fit, but here are some common social media flubs that will likely cause you to lose friends, fans, and followers:

1)   The Preacher:

This person is likely using her account to sell something, be it a product, or service, or a pyramid scheme that she wants all her friends to join. Her feed is mostly about achieving a single goal, and she friends others so they can receive her message.

On Twitter, this style consists of 100% information posting and 0% engagement with others. No retweets, no at replies. This person has no interest in developing relationships and hasn't yet figured out that the whole point of Twitter is to communicate. She is often unfollowed or ends up off any meaningful lists that people actually pay attention to.

On Facebook, this person posts little or nothing personal, and most pictures are related to her goal as well. The irony is that many people will consider this person’s feed so boring that they will hide it from their home page, thereby defeating her purpose.

2)   The Shocker:

This person spends his time on and off social media existing in a profanity ridden cesspool. He is crude and rude, and doesn’t realize that society in general isn’t interested in his potty mouth.

3)   The Collector:

This person believes that social media is about collecting as many connections as possible. To her, social media is a game in which the one with the most friends wins. If you were excited about reconnecting with her in the social media space, you’ll soon be disappointed because the collector can’t be bothered to respond to personal messages. She doesn’t want to actually communicate or build relationships; she just wants a larger friends list than anybody else.

4)   The Documenter:

This is the person who tells you everything about her life online, and I mean everything. You know when she has the sniffles, where she is every minute of the day via incessant checkins, all her relationship woes, when she’s happy or sad, and every other detail she can think of. This is another person who is often blocked from their Facebook friends’ feeds and removed from purposeful Twitter lists because of TMI.

5)   The Expert:

This person is the one who has an opinion about everything, with or without any direct knowledge, and is always right. He cannot be persuaded to consider alternative views, his opinion is inflexible, and he constantly digs in his heels. This is the person who comments, “Well, I’ve never read that book, but…” or “Well, my friend’s, mother’s, cousin’s, neighbor’s dog once…” He is annoying, and it’s often not worth commenting on anything he says unless you completely agree.

So, yes, it is your social media feed, and you can use it any way you want to, but if you’re one of these people, don’t expect to keep your audience for very long.

 

- Christine Pilch Mancini 

Comments

[QubeHRM]

I think the one reasons that stands out more why companies afraid to use social media is Brand reputation. What people says, shares online are instantly view able by millions of people and if anybody says something bad about you than millions of people join that guy and start offering him company.

But there is a way to control this thing you can hire any online media reputation management company or you can do it by yourself by using some monitoring tools like Google alerts, Call me on the web and etc.. :)

[Staci Burruel]

These tips are definitely helpful for marketers and business owners. It will be helpful in avoiding social media marketing mistakes. I believe the “think before you click rule” applies here. Carefully check the content of your post, and see if it sounds right and proper. Make the content simple and relatable to your target audience, and avoid using text that may be perceived as offensive or aggravating.