30 May Summer Social Media Cleaning For Professionals
Spring is rapidly turning to Summer, now that we’ve crossed the threshold of Memorial Day. With the warmer temperatures comes ‘spring cleaning,’ or in this case, ‘summer cleaning,’ — as well as more time outside, more outdoor social get-togethers, and with that – more digital media posts that are ‘socially-based.’ Even the utmost caretakers of their personal social media content need a social media cleaning. This is the perfect time to review your accounts, review your content, and perform a social media cleaning of what should no longer be left visible online.
Under Review? Photos.
If you are a professional, maintaining your personal brand is essential. It’s been said a picture is worth a thousand words. That photo seemed like a great idea in the moment. Looking back? Not so much. Time for some social media cleaning. A good example: clean out any photos you may have of yourself with alcohol. Perform a privacy review. On Facebook? Check your settings. Never assume everything is private. Be judicious in what you post and what you keep.
Questionable Tweets? Remove Them.
If your Twitter feed is public, delete any random thoughts that seemed relevant at the time. Allow your personality to shine, without showing it off too much. As you manage your professional brand, what you keep, and what you clean out is your call – but remember even your personal social media represents your professional brand.
When You Post – Check Back In 24 Hours.
Something that might have seemed acceptable at the time, may appear differently in a different perspective a day later. If it does, toss it. Cleaning up content in real time prevents the task of having to go back and review several months’ worth of posts and photos.
A Good Rule of Thumb:
In addition to looking at your privacy settings, a good rule of thumb is to keep your personal relationships and content separate from your professional relationships and content. Rarely, if never, should you keep your professional relationships in your personal social network and vice-versa. Perform a review of all of your social media accounts and contacts and adjust the ones that belong in the proper forums.
Your professional reputation and your personal brand are at stake – you’ll find social media cleaning to be well worth the time and effort. But what about business accounts? Find out if your business social media should slim down during summer.
When was the last time you reviewed your social media content and contacts? Share your comments.
GillespieHall Director, Public Relations & Marketing ◆ Business Strategist ◆ Message Calibrator ◆ Creative Leader
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