Social media is only for ____________ fill in the blank. I hear this phrase on a regular basis, filled with a multitude of answers ranging from young people to grandparents, to stay-at-home parents to only business-minded people.
While I disagree with the fact that social media is only for one certain category, I have to agree that it is for all of those categories, plus much more.
Social media has become a topic of conversation just as much as oil prices, presidential elections and the weather…in fact, most of those conversations are now taking place on social media.
In fact, there are more than 3 billion active Internet users (45% of the world’s Internet users) and nearly 2.1 billion people have social media accounts. (Source)
This means most of us are on social media and striving to connect with one another, but so many struggle with having a “good” social presence.
Here are three quick tips to help you have a better social media presence.
1. Clean It Up – My philosophy on social media posts for your personal page is if you would not say it to your Grandma, then don’t say it on social media. If it is something that would offend her and lead to a nasty back-and-forth amongst your so-called “friends” keep it to yourself. Having those types of posts, filled with unfriendly debate, is a sure way to create clutter and negativity on your page.
2. Snap It, Post It – As a new mom, my page has gone from posts about recent events to a picture of my daughter smiling, sleeping, practically doing anything new. At first, I thought, crap I became “one of those parents” who posts too many pictures of their kids. When I expressed this thought with a few family members and friends, they all said NO, keep posting pictures. Sometimes those funny milk drunk pictures help brighten someone’s day or remind them of a time with their kids. So I say, keep posting…got a new puppy? Post it. Have a video of you snowboarding? Post it. Remember friends; social media was created for us to connect and stay in touch, so no need to only fill your page with boring articles to make yourself look smart.
3. Make People Laugh – Afraid your timeline is starting to look like an online news site? Start posting content that makes you laugh. See a funny clip on Jimmy Fallon? Post it. Come across the perfect GIF to describe your day? Share it. People go to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. to not only get informed but also to be entertained. So dance, monkey, dance! ☺
I originally posted this on the Jones PR Blog
