What NOT To Do on Social Media

There are a billion and one articles online about what to do on social media. Usually, they mention some variation of the same thing — use hashtags, post consistently, be genuine, etc. Don’t get us wrong, those articles are *great*. (We write those articles too!) However, no one is talking about what you shouldn’t do on social media. And, well, it’s time we spread the word. 

If you’re guilty of breaking one or more of these, don’t stress! Most of us are. Social media is always a learning curve, and we learn best through our mistakes. 

1. Don’t ignore everyone else.

We don’t care how many followers you have. (Actually, we do. Pretty sure Lizzo has too many followers to see and respond to everyone’s comments.) But unless you’re at Lizzo-level heights, you should probably reply to people who mention you on social media. Or click that handy dandy heart.

Obviously, exceptions apply. Sometimes we’re forgetful, sometimes we’re busy, and sometimes we don’t want to respond. But if someone’s asking you a question, don’t pretend like you’re too cool to answer them.

2. Don’t try shady tactics to get new followers.

Like, hmm, follow-unfollow? Or those spammy third-party bots? And definitely don’t buy followers. Remember: just because you’re not paying for these other strategies doesn’t mean they aren’t hella spammy.

Plenty of people have used these techniques over the years with varying degrees of success, but even if they work at growing your following that doesn’t mean your newly large following is going to care about your brand or business. Remember, it’s always better to have 1,000 highly-engaged followers versus 10,000 people who couldn’t care less.

3. Don’t over-use @mentions.

This is an older tactic used primarily on Twitter, but we’ve seen it on a few other platforms as well. Within certain communities, there are a lot of opportunities to @mention other people. Some of them are awesome — like giving a shout-out to an amazing person worth following or hopping on a trending activity. 

Just…please don’t do it 24/7. It floods people’s mentions which isn’t fun if it’s happening, ya know, constantly.

4. Don’t overshare. 

If you’re building a brand, you need to think about the kinds of things you’re putting out there on social media. Is what your posting relevant to your followers? Do they care? Is it providing value of some sort?

Honesty is the best policy, and we’re not saying you need to pretend your life is perfect. In fact, people love transparency on social media! However, there are some thoughts that are better left unsaid — or texted to your best friend instead.

6. Post 200 million times per day. 

Quality over quantity. Come on. 

7. Never post and expect engagement.

This…we don’t even need to explain this. Do we? 

8. Only tweet about stuff you sell.

We get it. You have a book/product/service. And you’re trying to get people to buy it. 

But if all you’re tweeting is “buy my stuff, buy my stuff, buy my stuff,” no one is going to click buy. They’re going to click unfollow.

9. Use #too #many #hashtags. 

The rules of hashtags are different for each platform. 

Engagement actually drops on Twitter with each additional hashtag. (So you should probably stick with 1-3.) As for Instagram? Posts with nine or more hashtags saw more engagement than posts with less. And Facebook? Well, just don’t use hashtags on Facebook. (Seriously. Engagement tanks with even one.)

10. Post other people’s work without credit.

We don’t care if it’s a viral tweet, artwork, or something else — give credit where it’s due. Furthermore, DO NOT screenshot someone’s post to crop out their name and share it as your own.

Ever.

11. Auto-DM.

Auto-DM = auto-unfollow for us (and we know many other share this opinion.) Proceed with caution, or just don’t do it.

12. Worry too much about the “rules”.

Honestly, there is no magic formula for social media. What works for one person might not work for you, and that’s a good thing. Don’t stress yourself out about tweeting X number of times per day or having a *perfectly* curated Insta feed or anything else like that. Obviously, we all care about doing a good job. There’s nothing wrong with that! What you don’t want to do is stress so hard that you make yourself miserable. Okay?

In the meantime, don’t forget to share this article on social media. Pretty sure we all know someone who breaks at least one of these rules (no shame!) and, with a little luck, we can knock out these pesky habits once and for all.