How Not To Be Annoying on Social Media

We all have them, those social media pet peeves that just really irk us. For fun, our team compiled a list of how not to be annoying on social media. With each new addition to the list, we found ourselves nodding our heads in violent agreement and literally LOL’ing our way through the conversation. We thought you’d enjoy our compilation, and hopefully use it as a cautionary tale on how to best represent yourself and your brand on social sites.

Without further ado, our list of how to not be annoying on social media:

Proofread and edit for grammar and punctuation: Nothing says unprofessional like poorly written social media posts or ones fraught with typos. If you are promoting your business on social media, make sure to put your best foot forward and always dot your I's and cross your T's! A few members of our team use Grammarly to help catch grammar issues and typos. We also typically ask for a proofreader or editor for longer posts and blog articles.

Respond and engage: And, what about when you ask a question of a business on a social platform or website, and no one acknowledges it? This ranks as a customer service fail. You want engagement? Engage! Always respond to comments and questions promptly.

Give credit when using others’ images: We dedicated a blog post to this topic, the etiquette of photo credits, so you know this one really gets us going. And, we find it even more maddening when someone uses an image without giving credit and then crops out a brand’s watermark! Just be cool, not annoying, and give credit where credit is due.

Highlight in-stock products: Ever find yourself scrolling through your social media feed and see a product that you can’t live without? Then, have you found yourself trying to buy said product only to find out it’s out of stock? Highlighting sold out or out-of-stock products, especially without offering any alternatives, is a sure-fire way to annoy the bejeezus out of your followers. And, you run the risk of eroding loyalty when your followers take their business elsewhere in search of a great product your marketed but couldn’t fulfill.

Don’t use auto comments on Facebook or Instagram: You know those crazy, random, nonsensical comments that you find either on your posts or another feed? Most are from auto comments—automatic comments that come from a machine, not a human—and they rank high on the annoying scale! If you want to comment on other feeds, have a human comment with real words, real thoughts and real sentiment.

Remember to update your “link in bio” on Instagram: No doubt you’ve experienced this: an Instagram post captures your attention with an awesome photo, an engaging blurb and the promise of more juicy details through a link placed in the bio. You scroll to the top of the post only to find that either there is no link in the bio, or the link doesn’t apply to the most current post in the feed… the one you really want to read more about. Ack! Add “update link in bio” to part of your process when posting new content to always update those pesky links and ensure you do not annoy your followers in this way!

Please stop asking me if I want more Instagram followers: How many comments do you receive in a day asking if you want more followers? Plenty, right? And, how bugged are you with each of those comments? Please, please don’t be a company that asks for more followers. And, please don’t engage with those types of companies, either. Attract followers the right way, by engaging with your audience and creating compelling content.

What about you? What gets under your skin on social media? What’s your advice to someone who wants to know how not to be annoying on social media? Do tell! We can’t wait to hear.