The New Year is here and you know what that means… New Years Resolutions! Has improving your social media behaviour made the cut? If not, maybe it is something to consider as 2019 rolls on.
There’s no harm in starting your News Years Resolution late. After all, according to studies… 80% of you won’t even make it to February! But before we start making ANY changes… it is worth doing a little bit of a social media audit on yourself and understanding which of the below cliché you gravitate towards most. So scroll on to discover your social media faux pas with some fun facts to help you REALLY analyse your behaviour.
Selfie Centred
Alright millennials and Gen Y we’re looking at you… mainly. Why? Because research, as highlighted by AdWeek deems you culprit #1. 55% of millennials have taken selfies and shared them on social, 74% of all images shared on Snapchat being selfies AND the 1,000 selfies are posted to Instagram every 10 seconds! And perhaps the most blameless and ‘fun fact’ of all…
We’re not going to take it as far as the 2014 hoax article classifying ‘selfitis’ as a mental disorder… but how they categorised ‘selfie addicts’ might help you understand where your selfie habits fall on the spectrum. So… are you addicted to selfies?
Borderline: Taking photos of one’s self at least three times a day but not posting them on social media
Acute: Taking photos of one’s self AT LEAST three times a day and posting each of the photos on social media.
Chronic: The urge to take photos of one’s self round the clock and posting the photos on social media more than six times a day
But again… please don’t take the article referenced to heart it was flagged as ‘fake news’ and has just been outlined to help you audit your selfie behaviour. So… where do you fall?
Next up…
A One-Upper
While social media enables us to connect with each other, it also isn’t shy of one BIG habit… showing off. I mentioned selfies above, but the one-upper takes it a step further by inflating their egos with filters and extreme focus on perfection and idealism. Instead of sharing humbling stories, experiences and etc. ‘one-uppers’ of the world make it a point to REALLY show off.
According to Psychology Today, sharing positive events and achievements from our lives, in general, is ‘good to do’ and supports our happiness. However, if the information is shared to incite jealousy, envy, or other negative emotions without a useful or informative purpose for the audience it becomes ‘boasting’. Here are 4 most common ways you MIGHT find yourself on the wrong side of sharing: Wealth/Lifestyle/Status, Health and Fitness, Intelligence/Sense of Humour, Community Membership.
But the above according to M.D., Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences at Stanford University and author of Virtually You: The Dangerous Powers of the E-Personality, Elias Aboujaoude, are a product of the norm.
“What used to be thought of as narcissistic, vain, and self-centred behaviour is now the guiding norm of society.”
Yikes! Are you a sheep in a world of vanity?! Bahhhh.
Play-by-Player
Okay so for this one, let’s start with the basics. With over 3.1 billion active social media users globally, there is bound to be A LOT of noise right? Yep!
NOTE: That only covers 3 social media channels! And adding to the noise oversharers aka ‘play-by-players’.
Are you guilty of giving the minute-by-minute detail of your life– including selfies? Time to audit. Why? Because, while social media is a place to engage with each other, share memories, experiences and more… sharing everything short of your bathroom breaks might get you unfollowed by your friends!
Meme Lord
Have a passion for memes? Don’t we all… So much so that according to Google Trends ‘memes’ outrank ‘Jesus’ in search volume! Why? Because, let’s be honest in the midst of all the chaos on the internet surrounding pop culture, politics and more… it is memes that make the world go around! Not money… OBVIOUSLY. And yes… the same things that overwhelm us (i.e. politics) can also make ROFL. Oh, and cats…
But are you a ‘Meme Lord’? I.e. someone with a STRONG passion for memes or a joker as outlined via Urban Dictionary. It is all about creating, viewing, ingesting, and posting the dankest of memes. How do you meme?
And if you don’t, you can become a meme lord in 20 minutes with this fun read here. Because the world LOVES a good meme.
Like-a-holic
Are you guilty of adding to the egos of your friends and favourite brands with a good old ‘like’ or two… or three… or 50? With over 4 million like a day on Facebook and 40 million per day on Instagram, what do you think your likes are worth to brands? Nada really. Why? Because gone are the days when post or page likes meant you could reach large audiences… now its pay to play. And research done by Harvard Business Review takes it even further highlighting the likelihood of you liking something changing or increasing your purchasing behaviour unlikely.
So click away, but do note you aren’t really helping anyone and your liking sprees are only a sign of your love of clicking!
Soapbox Hero
Whether your a person or a brand, no one likes being shouted at, so why do it on social media? We must remember that social media is about community… AND negativity breeds negativity. So, we need to build each other up, rather than tear each other down. Now we’re not saying you are required to engage, but keep in mind ‘If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say it at all.’ You’ll thank us later.
All we ask is that when you find yourself on a ‘soapbox’ (or see someone on their’s) step down, take a look around and respect the fact that other people are allowed to have differing opinions than that of our own. After all, there are over 3 billion of us active on social media and there is enough chaos in the world as is.
Hashtag Hyper
Alright ‘Hashtag Heroes’ you know why you’ve made the list. NOT everything requires a hashtag. Or does it? What’s the deal with hashtags going in 2019? In short, they are very much still relevant BUT only need to be done in moderation and strategically!
Just because studies show 11 on Instagram to be the ‘Golden Number’ doesn’t mean you need 11 hashtags. It is ALL about using relevant hashtags where they make the most sense. Using hashtags just to use them… NOT so savvy… annoying!
Do your research. And know what platforms to use them on and in what way. While hashtags hold the same purpose across the majority of the platforms… how they are used on Facebook differ from that of Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and etc.
And DON’T… I repeat DON’T… reuse the same hashtags on every social media post (unless its a branded hashtag). Not only is it LAZY and but its ineffective in 2018 given the algorithm changes (Instagram‘s specifically) that would flag it as spam.
Alright… I think we’ve scolded you enough… now onto the:
Lurker Lou
Are you a ‘Lurker’? Statistically, you could be. Why? The unwritten rule of ‘90-9-1‘. This old-school theory dates back to the early 2000s still seems to be relevant and outlines that in most online communities, 90% of users are lurkers who never contribute, 9% of users contribute a little, and 1% of users account for almost all of the content. Therefore, if we take the 3 billion active social media users globally (rounded down from the 3.196 billion), 270 million sometimes contribute, 30 million ALWAYS contribute and 2.7 billion are lurkers. That doesn’t seem too far off, does it?
Nonetheless, the definition of a lurker is what will best help you categorise yourself as a lurker or a contributor. Techopedia pretty much hits the nail on the head with this one:
“A Lurker is an Internet user who, rather than participating in interactive websites such as social media platforms, only passively observes information and does not reveal information about himself or herself. These passive users may view text and images, download information, visit other people’s profiles or request information through the Internet, but do not post, update their profiles, share links, use social media indicators or otherwise create an online or social media footprint.”
Sharenter
Alright mamas and papas everywhere, we’re not here to hate on your cute baby pics, videos, parenting successes, fails and fun. AND we appreciate the social media is a GREAT outlet for support and advice. All we want to do is make you aware and maybe nudge you to think before you share. But first… let’s outline what it is exactly.
Sharenting (or over-sharenting) is a term used to describe the overuse of social media by parents to share content based on their children.
And when it comes to sharenting, there really is a good, bad and ugly effect to sharing info about your kids online.
The GOOD, as mentioned above the community you have access to help you through the toughest of days. 70% of parents said they used social media to get advice from other parents with 62% admitted it helped them worry less.he BAD, you run the risk of embarrassing your child later in life. 50% of parents are concerned that when their children grow up they will be embarrassed to see what has been shared about them.
And the downright UGLY, you also run the risk of endangering your family or subjecting your child to identity theft or worse… digital kidnapping. More than 1 million children were subject to identity theft last year.
So… please please please think before you share!
And if you’re still considering your New Years resolutions or mulling over adding another… figure out where you fit above and make the change where you see fit! A little self-check kicking off 2019 never hurt anyone!
All above graphics courtesy of Microsoft.
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