Let’s Get Personal: Social Media New Year’s Resolutions from the Everywhere Team
It’s nearly 2014 and I reckon each of us is having a hard time believing that the days of hoarding canned goods and gallons of water for Y2K are 14 years passed. A lot has happened in the last 14 years. The world battled and survived SARS, bird and swine flu epidemics. America saw its first African American president elected and reelected. Smart devices overtook the mobile market at breakneck speeds, and social media went from a foreign and novel concept to the primary means by which people around the world connect. As a company that specializes in this form of digital communication, we bear both knowledge and a burden and feel that in 2014 it is our duty to inform the masses of what we believe to be quintessential social media faux-pas. Each of us here at Everywhere wants to share with you our most desired social media New Year’s resolutions to stick to in 2014. But not to worry, they’re all things we’re working on too!
Pet Peeve #1: New-Baby-Info-Overload Syndrome. We love babies, really we do. But do we have to hear when they first pooped on the potty or had a little tinkle?
Resolve to: Keep a few more of those intimate moments to ourselves.
Pet Peeve #2: Unknown Linkers. If anyone knows me, they know I love to connect with people. But, when it comes to LinkedIn, it’s still strange when I receive requests to link to someone I’ve never met or even heard of.
Resolve to: Make an introduction through a mutual contact. No more ‘cold linking’.
Pet Peeve #1: Foodie Photogs. I don’t care what you ate today. All it does is make me realize I’m not eating it. What do you want, a pat on the back for eating? Harsh? Maybe. True? Sadly.
Resolve to: Keep breakfast, lunch and dinner where they belong…in your stomach.
Pet Peeve #2: The Mushy Oversharer. When people in a relationship use their Facebook walls as their main form of communication.
Resolve to: Use the message feature, that’s what it’s there for.
Pet Peeve #1: The Over-Enthusiast. No one is concerned with your “FiRst CoMMenT!!” comment on Mindy Kaling’s adorable picture.
Resolve to: Never make posts about which place your comment is in on Instagram photos…or any other photos for that matter.
Pet Peeve #2: The False Friend. Your automated Twitter DMs are counterproductive. I don’t feel thanked, I immediately begin to regret following you.
Resolve to: Share a tweet of mine that you find interesting. Don’t generically thank me for following you.
Pet Peeve #1: The Deja Vu Instagrammer. Didn’t we just see that picture? Oh, it has a different filter on it. Instagramming the same picture with slight variations doesn’t gain you any new followers. In fact, often times my finger will unfollow you before my brain has a chance to catch up.
Resolve to: Find the shot you like and post it once…and only once.
Pet Peeve #2: The In-Opportunist. Tweeting without hashtags or handles is the quickest way to dodge any potential attention you could otherwise have received from that witty or thoughtful tweet.
Resolve to: Use hashtags and handles. You worked to create that tweet. Now let it work for you a bit.
Pet Peeve #1: The Digital Debater. Curb debates! Tired of arguing (or watching other people argue) when you should be enjoying your time on social media?
Resolve to: Unfollow if necessary. Simply unfollow a post after leaving your comment, or unfollow the friend who posted the controversy altogether. If there’s too much on your feed to handle, you can always install Unbaby.me and put it to good use.
Pet Peeve #2: The Build Em & Forget Em. So you signed up for Pinterest, but have you touched it since? You created a blog… but the only post is from 2011.
Resolve to: Log in to your social media accounts and see if they’re worth keeping. If someone’s googling you, it’s not a good look for your last post to be years old. Chances are, older posts aren’t a current representation of “you,” anyway.
It’s a new year, which means new beginnings. Let’s all resolve to make ourselves more efficient, more appreciated and more thoughtful social media users. Here here to a fresh and new year!