16 Behaviors Professionals Should Avoid On Social Media

In the era of personal branding, the distinction between what is and isn't professional to post on your social media accounts sometimes gets blurry. Building your own brand and accelerating your career success becomes more accessible with platforms such as LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook- If you use them professionally and correctly. Here are the worst 16 behaviors professionals should avoid on social media in 2020.

16 Behaviors Professionals Should Avoid On Social Media

Complaining about your work, colleagues, or manager.

Although this can sound like an evident, the number one unprofessional act conveys scathing reviews about you is complaining about your new workplace, boss, or colleagues. Don't forget that potential (and current) employers on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. would raise a red flag at the minimal insult or protest. In every industry, even a mere "dreading going to the office" or "bored at work" post is a negative way to brand yourself.

Getting too sales-y and Showy.

Although self-branding on social media is critical nowadays, don't overdo it.

Nobody will continue to follow a person who continually talks only about himself as he wants to say, "I'm the best of all." prove it, don't say it.

Don't show off every day, or you'll stop surprising people. There must always be some novelty left over. The person who displays a little more of it each day keeps up expectations, and no one ever discovers the limits of his talent. — Baltasar Gracián.

Sticking to one social media platform.

With over 2.7 billion active users/ month, Facebook is today's biggest social network.

While being involved on Facebook, you should also make the best use of other prominent social networks that appeal to users outside Facebook.

Some of them are Pinterest (320 million active users/ month) and LinkedIn with (675 million active users/ month) professionals.

The key to deciding which platform you should be active in is your industry. For example, if you're a B2B marketer, you should focus on LinkedIn, where there are 90 million senior-level influencers.

Posting your own content only.

Only posting stuff from your website shows the crowd that your thoughts are the only ones that matter. Google SEO updates have lately targeted pages that only post posts with themselves in mind.

This is because one 's attitude is viewed as self-serving by one who just reflects their opinions. It's useful for your connections to read content from other users, similar to your niche. This supports your content marketing strategies.

It also helps you by identifying with well-known influencers and businesses to promote your own brand.

The more value you offer your audience, the more you become valuable. No matter where the value comes from.

Posting with vague messaging or goals.

Your audience expects, as a professional, a reason for what you say.

Try to cover these questions before publishing anything:

• What is this post's objective?
• To my target audience, is it relevant?
• Will the writing style make me seem incompetent or unprofessional?

Whether it is insightful, informative, or has a call-to-action, behind every message, you still have a reason. The aim is to be in the audience's minds in the "professional" side.

Posting with grammar and spelling errors.

" thnx so mutch."

A professional who usually posts with poor spelling and grammar conveys the message that they don't have a high degree, regardless of the content of every social media post.

This means that you're not a very professional partner for your target audience. This won't do your brand any good. Before posting anything on social media accounts, make sure that it passes an editing process to detect all grammar and spelling errors.

Additionally, avoid using slang, acronyms, and shortcuts.

Posting only as inspiration hits.

Sharing only posts affected by your on-time mood can work only on your personal accounts with your friends. For your professional brand,

For your business, the more you write, the more you'll receive attention.

There's a study that shows that you should post 1-2 times/ day on Facebook and Instagram, 5-10 tweets/day on Twitter, 5-30 pins on Pinterest, and 20 posts/month on LinkedIn.

Forgetting your target audience and sharing too much information.

If your target market is the business world, leave out sharing marital issues, personal issues, and Awkward bits of information that are better kept in private conversations. Know where you can draw the line between your digital and personal life.

Ignoring that goal of enriching the lives of your followers.

Starting self-branding is not just about building your image and working for your own sake. It's about developing an identity that can improve the lives of people.

So make it your objective to reflect your mission when you appear on social media. Which is Sharing information that is beneficial, important, and valuable to individuals and Enhancing their lives.

Ignoring comments on your posts and messages in your inbox.

On social media profiles, engagement is a high priority. So comment back when your connections comment on your posts.

Here are some hints on how to reply to these comments:

• Be professional, but nice.
• Take what people say and write a suitable response. Don't just comment with "Thanks for your reply!".
• Be supportive; your aim should be leaving your connections feeling happy.

Moreover, stop reading messages and not replying. In 2020, technological development makes it easy to find a tool that tracks if you've opened the message and how long you have read it. So, reading a message with no reply will leave an awful impression on the sender.

Networking actively for a position or interview only.

LinkedIn and Twitter are excellent platforms for networking with other professionals in your field, but there is a significant gap between networking "and" disturbing/ annoying. Sending messages or interview questions regularly via social media to potential employers will not land you a job; it will also result in being unprofessional. Use social media to get advice or initiate a conversation, not to crave for a job.

Learn How to be the best job candidate.

Engaging in controversial issues.

 Although expressing your opinion is Good, stay away from subjects or news that may be too divisive, i.e., religion, culture, politics. It's better not to broadcast it all over the place if your viewpoint may be opposing. Controversial views are a big turn-off for prospective employers and can lose you the dream interview.

Mentioning illegal activities.

 Another lousy behavior, photo or not- anything that you wouldn't do or say in front of a police officer shouldn't go on social media. Consider it the quickest way to destroy your own career and personal brand.

Being a Drama Queen.

Through Twitter or Facebook, it might be easy to go on complaining and tears, but you don't want the negatives to overshadow the positives in your online brand. Keep your feelings under control, take a deep breath, and think before you send out those negative vibes that, in the future, might reflect negatively on you.

Getting upset when you receive negative comments.

As your brand grows, you'll get both positive and negative comments. It would be best to put in mind that negative comments are there to help you improve and excel. Deal with them open-mindedly and try to solve the problem instead of getting angry back.

Leaving out or exaggerate posting Photos & Videos.

Although Photos and videos, done right, are attention-grabbers, a volume of personal images in personal life would be considered by prospective and existing employers to be a red flag.  You don't want to be considered as the trivial candidate even though you believe it's" all in good fun.

There's nothing wrong with sharing tasteful, fun shots with friends from an evening out, only if it's related to the work setting. Being entertaining and engaging is critical, but don't forget to differentiate between business posts and personal posts.

For your personal branding, social media can be an incredibly influential force, but only if you handle your activity correctly. Doing social media for a business is more of a science than it sounds, and when building your online brand and crafting your professional accounts, there are some very strict tips that you need to hold in mind. These 20 behaviors professionals should avoid on social media will help you turn your poor image into a growing self-brand.

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