The longer social media platforms are around, the more we get used to using them as part of our social lives, our businesses and for general communication. And, as these platforms continue to evolve, we learn more and more about how best to leverage their capabilities. Over the years, social media has begun to drive marketing, conversations, brand identity etc…and, there have been many rules that have surfaced as a result.
While some of those rules are excellent guides for navigating the world of social media, not all have to be followed all of the time. You should use social media in the best way that it works for you – following your instinct and your natural way of communicating, no matter what. Not sure how to make sense of what to do and what not to do anymore? Here’s a look at four social media rules to break today.
4 Social Media Rules to Break
#1. Responding to every message you receive. There was a point in time when this was pretty essential to building a following, developing a good reputation and making sure you were working the engagement side of the spectrum, but things have changed quite a bit over the years. There’s been a surge in the number of internet “trolls” and “bots” out there and not all of them are worth your time or a response. Responding to comments that come from real human connections – yes! Go for it…and make sure you offer sincere replies right back, but don’t be afraid to avoid the ones that seem odd, out of place, rude or completely insincere.
#2. Having a presence on all social media platforms. This one is meant to be broken. Not every social platform is a fit for every person, just like not every dress out there is going to look great on you. Trying things on for size is an absolute must, because you never know. When something doesn’t feel right, don’t push it. Go with what you love. Instagram might be a favorite and a natural fit for you because you love photographs, but Snapchat might leave you feeling like you have no idea what to add there. That’s 100% OK.
#3. Your main goal should be to gain more and more followers. Absolutely not. Just like when we were talking above about comments that come from bots and trolls, you should want to foster a following of real genuine people, who are truly interested in what you have to say. Having followers just to have followers isn’t going to get you anywhere, but when you have built a quality community where you can have solid engagement, communication and interactions – that’s worth your effort. Bottom line: focus on quality, not quantity.
#4. Use perfect grammar. Look, social media is meant to be fun and that means being yourself. Sometimes posts aren’t going to be perfect. They’ll have grammatical errors, the photo will be off, you’ll miss a comma or two – but you know what? That’s real. That’s just you being human and it’s completely fine. Now, on a regular basis should you review your posts? Should you try to make everything easy to read with a nice flow? Of course! But, perfection isn’t essential 100% of the time.
How have you adapted the rules of social media to work for you? Are there certain rules you never break?
