Social media: You're doing it wrong

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If I had a nickel for every time someone did something wrong on social media, I'd have enough money to buy Facebook.

Sadly, I have no nickels. But I'll give you my two cents: The mistakes that make crazy are avoidable. Sometimes, people don't realize it's wrong. Other times, people don't think it's a quick fix. I'm here to show you how to turn #YoureDoingItWrong into #ThatsRight.

Here are five things that drive me and your fellow social media friends insane, and five ways to break the habit.

#YoureDoingItWrong: Just because you have 140 characters available doesn't mean you should use all 140.

#ThatsRight: Get in the habit of saving 20 characters for people who prefer to retweet with an additional message to their followers. Using all 140 forces them to use the automatic retweet button and quashes creativity.

#YoureDoingItWrong: NO ONE WANTS TO READ AND SHARE A TWEET THAT LOOKS LIKE THIS!!!!!

#ThatsRight: Whoa, tweeter. Calm down. All caps equals screaming and there's no reason to scream on Twitter. Sure, you've got a lot of competition, but yelling isn't going to help. And exclamation points should be reserved for when its absolutely required. Concentrate on the quality of your message, not trying to make it stand out. All caps and exclamation points in tweets are like bolding passages on resumes — never a good idea.

#YoureDoingItWrong: #please #dont #add #hashtags #to #every #word. #thankyou.

#ThatsRight: Hashtags are widely misunderstood. The purpose is to gather and organize a series of tweets. We add the # because everyone else does. It can be funny, but you don't want to abuse it. I apply a little test when I decide whether or not to use a hashtag. First, I look to see if the topic is trending. If so, I give it stronger consideration. Otherwise, I ask myself: Would I Google this? If the answer is yes, I give it stronger consideration. Practical example: You would never Google the word "food," so you wouldn't tweet #food.

#YoureDoingItWrong: "You like this" should never appear on your own Facebook post.

#ThatsRight: I once talked to someone who likes their own content and they said it's like starting off a tip jar with a dollar. You start it and the rest will follow. That's silly. Here's a better tip: Don't like your own Facebook posts. Ever.

#YoureDoingItWrong: No one likes an egg.

#ThatsRight: You know, an egg. The person who didn't have a few seconds to change the default Twitter avatar to something more human. Obviously, your message is what's going to make or break you in social media, but appearances matter. I've devoted columns to this before, but to reiterate: I don't follow eggs. To me, it indicates you are lazy and won't be a quality use of my Twitter time. The last thing I am is snobbish, so believe me when I tell you I'm not the only one who thinks this way.

Make one or all five of those changes and you'll be better on social media in no time.

What questions do you have about social media? Tweet them to @scottkleinberg. He might select yours for use in a future column.

Copyright © 2018, Chicago Tribune
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