10 Signs You're a Real Social Media Jerk

Hello friends,

I hope that everyone is having a fabulous Monday. So I was perusing around on the internet and I came across and article on PR Daily entitled, "10 signs you're a social media jerk" and I thought it was pretty interesting. There are people that I follow on social media and they drive me crazy. Sometimes the subjects they post about are ridiculous and I just want to delete them. This article provided guidelines to detect whether or not you behave badly on social media.

1. Post anonymous comments. If you contribute to a conversation, tell people who you are. If you remain anonymous, it appears that you have something to hide.

2. You're attached to your smartphone. There is a time and a place to post updates and tweets. When you are talking to someone, put the phone down. 

3. Faking authenticity. If you tweet or post under the guise of, “I’m just trying to be real,” or “I want to be honest,” you’re not. You’re trying too hard. If you want to be yourself, be yourself. Just don’t preface it that way. 

4. Blatant self-promotion. Don’t clog your social media channels with your product or brand information. People can see right through it. You want to be “authentic,” right? 

5. Referring to yourself offline by your Twitter handle. When you attend social media events, do you put your Twitter handle on your name badge, instead of your real name? Ugh. Remember, you are a person. A real, honest-to-God person. You are not your Twitter handle, even if it’s your first and last name. 

6. You publicly correct people. We’ve all made grammatical errors or accidentally tweeted the wrong links. It’s embarrassing. What makes it worse is when someone points it out publicly. If you feel the urge to correct someone, send the person a DM. If you can’t, well, at least be subtle: “You might wanna check your last tweet.” They’ll see it as an act of kindness, not as one of humiliation. 

7. You tell people your Klout score. This is tragic. You are a person. You are not a number. Why not tell people your SAT scores, too? 

8. You’re a Facebook addict. No, seriously; it’s a problem. You’re constantly updating your status, playing Farmville, and sending messages to your high school boyfriend. Every fleeting thought is written down in a post. As you pose for pictures, you’ve already decided which Photo Albums they will go in. 

9. You name drop Twitter handles of people who follow you. Just because you follow someone, you don’t actually “know” each other (most likely). It’s OK to say that you follow certain people on Twitter, but you’re mistaken to think you are actually friends with them. You actually have to meet a person before you can say you “know” them. 

10. You refer to yourself as a “social media ninja.” Well, I guess it’s better than referring to yourself as “Anonymous.” And you’d better have the Klout score to back it up, Grasshopper. 

I definitely think that there are some people that could benefit from these tips. The problem is, we are online so often that it creates more opportunities to make mistakes. If you read these guidelines and determine that you are a social media jerk, take the necessary steps to ensure you are not that person that everyone wants to delete from social media sites. 

Until next time,

Katie