6 Social Media Mistakes You Might Be Making

Social media matters:  If you’re looking for a new position, expanding your established professional network, or creating your personal brand, you need a social media presence that pushes you forward.

“What’s important is to make conscious decisions about what you say or post in a manner consistent with your goals,” says Dr. Lois Frankel, executive coach author of the bestselling “Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office” (newly revised to cover modern issues like social media). “You always have to consider risk versus potential profit.”

It’s harder than it sounds. Below, find six common mistakes that might be holding you back from the career you’re working for – and how to fix them.

1. Forgetting to refresh your social media image
Don’t start the job hunt without revamping your accounts – or, even better, creating two separate sets of accounts for your professional and personal use. Frankel suggests using a pseudonym on your personal accounts and setting filters on your professional ones to prohibit connections from posting on them. And if a clear-eyed assessment of your Facebook profile has you red-faced with embarrassment, take drastic measures: “If you have personal information or pictures out there on accounts already in existence that aren’t conducive to seeing you as a savvy career woman, shut them down and start over,” Frankel says.

2. Accepting every request to connect
When you get a new follower, ask yourself the tough question: Is this person going to bolster my social media persona or bring me down with embarrassing shares? Remember that it’s okay to try to keep your professional network separate from your personal one and just say no. If you’re getting random requests from people in your industry that you don’t know, exercise caution: if you don’t know their reputation, you don’t know if this connection could hurt or help, and it’s better to be safe than sorry.

3. Thinking in the right-now, not the long-term
In today’s hyper-speed culture, your thoughts can get distributed to thousands of people in seconds – and this can be dangerous: Do these people need to know about your lunch break shopping spree or happy hour cocktails? Nope. If you don’t think before you post, you could make a mistake that follows you for years. “What you put on these accounts are difficult or even impossible to remove,” Frankel says. “It’s like trying to put toothpaste back into the tube.” Think about your future boss seeing this post in two years, Frankel says, or even ten – is it worth that instant satisfaction?

4. Assuming posting on your own time means that anything goes
That staff meeting was a snoozefest or you heard rumor that your CEO is on her way out? Keep it off your news feed or risk looking like a complainer, a gossip, or, worse, an actively negative impact on your office’s corporate culture and productivity. “Bosses make decisions about who gets promoted, raises, and good assignments based on the degree to which they believe the employee supports his or goals, co-workers, and the best interests of the company,” Frankel says. “When you say or do things counter to that, you’ve made yourself vulnerable.” If you don’t want to hear subtle jabs about not being a team player in your next performance review, don’t air your grievances on social media – even if you’re not friends with your boss online, you never know who’s taking screenshots.

5. Not having a social media presence at all
Just because social media is a public-image minefield doesn’t mean you can take yourself off the Web entirely: this can make you look out of touch and anti-social, both red flags for potential employers. What you need are carefully curated accounts that project your personal brand and connect with you with valuable additions to your professional network. If you’re sharing articles, links, and posts relevant to your field, you will show that your engagement in your work goes beyond the office environment. “Something as simple as taking the time to post articles of interest to others in your field can make YOU look like the ‘go to’ person for trends,” Frankel says.

6. Refusing to ask for help
If you’ve built your career on networking mixers or professional development seminars, the digital networking world can seem impossible to navigate. If you find yourself intimidated, don’t be afraid to ask for help. “Identify a friend or co-worker who seems to have this stuff down and ask if he or she would be willing to help you to create a professional online image,” Frankel says. “[But] be willing to ‘barter’ your skills in exchange for this help.” Your babysitter has a degree in graphic design? Your neighbor does social media marketing? Think about what you can offer them and pitch a trade – your new followers will thank you for it.

By Alison Loughman
Photo by Sophie James | Shutterstock