Did you REALLY want to share that?

I admit it. My filter is broken. Sometimes I… well… I overshare.

Lucky for me, the business of social media is literally built on the concept of sharing. But this doesn’t mean that everyone wants to hear everything that you have to say.

On a personal level, I know that I’ve seen some people (Fine… I won’t mention specific friends’ names here) share things that make even their closest friend shudder for a second.

So it’s no surprise that many of my business clients struggle with the questions “What do I have to say?” and “Why would anyone care?”

In a world where people share photos of their meals (WHY?) and vague passive-aggressive updates (Seriously… WHY?), it can be hard to find the balance and still share your voice.

For those who primarily use social media personally, what sharing trends do you wish would just go away?

For those who primarily use social media for business purposes, what obstacles related to sharing sometimes keep you from posting consistent updates?

SOUND OFF IN THE COMMENTS BELOW and YOUR feedback just might be the focus for next week’s blog!

10 thoughts on “Did you REALLY want to share that?

  1. I use social media primarily for business and what I tend to look for are posts that are out of the ordinary: an exceptionally staged room, a beautiful cake that is more art than food, haircuts gone horribly wrong, and of course animals acting like humans. The problem with sharing interesting, out-of-the-ordinary photos from my line of work (professional organizing), is that I worry that it’s a violation of my client’s trust, which is essential to doing work with them and in seeking work from new prospects. I’ll share my own blogs, but the majority of the photos I share is from OTHER people’s sites.

    • Haircuts gone wrong? Somehow I’m guessing there are entire websites devoted to that.

      I love that you mentioned sharing photos… without a doubt, photos are one of the most shared items online!

  2. I use social media for mainly personal and political reasons. One of the things I wish would go away, that I know will not, is people that just share pictures, stories and the like from other sources and never have an original thought of their own. Also, people that re-post things that are untrue or misleading. These are actions that highlight the person’s ignorance. Then again, maybe it is better that they don’t post original ideas. I also have friends on Facebook that have different views than I do and I cringe when they post some regurgitated, viral “news” story and have no idea what they are “talking” about. But, believe it or not, some of those friends are intelligent and we are able to discuss our different views in a civilized way. We may never change each others mind, but its good to hear what the other side has to say.
    And I do like to see pictures of people’s food because it gives me dinner ideas. 🙂

    • Thanks for the comment!

      What kind of pics do you mean? Do you mean like those photos and quotes with unoriginal sayings?

      Also, it’s interesting to me that you mention the news and sharing our “sides” on hot topics. Some people do this better than others online…

      And as for food, that surprises me. I’m on the side that says “Enough with the recipes. Buy a cookbook.” Mostly because taking pics of our food to show our friends is a relatively new thing. Thank goodness we didn’t do that back in the days when we had to develop film from a camera! 😉

  3. As a consumer of social media…I really don’t like insipid comments ( ala “What a glorious day to walk the dog), but I sure don’t mind the occassionally embarrassing or inappropriate drunk tweet. Love baby pictures (really!), pictures of other people’s gardens, local news…..and funny stuff!
    When I use social media for business, I try to behave!

  4. I use social media personally for political purposes and also to keep track of my large extended family. I love my nieces and nephews who are far away and love seeing photos of their life events I cannot attend. I have an unwritten rule with them that I don’t share or react to any of their antics. Yes, I am the “cool” aunt!

    For business, I use FB to educate my customers and also to keep them updating on any regulatory changes.

    • Thanks for the comments on both personal and professional!

      So many people use Facebook to keep in touch with family, and if you’ve got a large one, it’s definitely a life-saver.

  5. I use social media for business to keep up to date with, and share, the latest technology and video trends. The only obstacle is time to sift through all that’s available, find the information that I find really helpful and share it or create a new post with some added information. I admit I personally enjoy catching up with friends on social media, also, but agree that sometimes it’s just too much. What do I wish would go away? Political rants and doom and gloom postings.

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