NEWS: Talk Nerdy To Me Lover…5 Ways To Not Suck At Social Media

CULTURE: Talk Nerdy To Me Lover…5 Ways To Not Suck At Social Media

by Jen Friel



Don't know about you, but I can't stand social media experts, ninjas or gurus. They're always trying to one up each other, establishing dominance, and you can't EVER just get the real deal from them on what you need to know. I am here today to humbly say that in my non-expert opinion, these are the 5 main ways to not suck at social media. Let's cut out the BS and just get to the bottom line, shall we…

1. Do not, ever, sync your social media accounts together

I CRINGE every time I see Facebook and Twitter still synced in my Facebook news feed. You’ve seen it before too via third party services like Hootsuite, Ping, or Tweetdeck. Twitter and Facebook are entirely different mediums and need to be dealt with accordingly. Twitter offers more open access to the global consciousness while Facebook is more for spreading info to your current network.

To more efficiently market a post on Twitter you should implement relevant hashtags into the message. I even do it on my site (TalkNerdyToMeLover.com) directly. This allows for new people who may not be following you to be able to easily discover the message via the hashtag. Additionally, anytime it gets RTed by other people, even more people will be able to access the message. Of course, this genuinely also worked with my branding (being nerdy and all) but it’s SUPER helpful and DEFINITELY helped grow my brand so quickly.

For Facebook, pictures work. I don’t know why or how, but every single time I post a picture with a short message and a link my numbers shoot up three times more than if I’d simply posted a standard link with the populated thumbnail.

The way our eyes absorb content on the platforms are SUPER different, so please, unsync the accounts. It’s okay, I promise there is life after it.

2. Be human

I can’t tell you how many people in my feed literally sound like they’re reading toaster instructions. There’s no personality or passion in their message, just very simple words followed by whatever link they are promoting. That shit is so boring and no one is paying attention to it. Trust me, I used to do it! I spent so long being so prim and proper, and it got me ABSOLUTELY nowhere. My writing style is definitely unique – as is my improper use of punctuation at all times. But it’s my jam! I write like I talk, and I communicate with people not like they are students sitting in a classroom, but rather as if we’re buddies grabbing a beer at a bar. People like this kind of intimacy, and people respond to it. So do it!!!

3. Don't just RT other people's tweets - have an opinion

I REFUSE to follow people on Twitter who only RT other people’s tweets. Do they not have a SINGLE thought of their own?? Your Twitter feed is an expression of who you are. Have an opinion! Have a voice!! When I started on Twitter in June of 2009 (I’m not an early adopter), I used my feed as a place to express all the thoughts in my head. Literally no one was listening since my following was miniscule, but gradually, by implementing hashtags and by expressing SOME SORT OF OPINION ON SOMETHING, people began RTing me and slowly but surely my following grew. There’s no right or wrong way to admin your Twitter feed. You just have to be you. Get all Madonna circa 1989 and Express Yourself!!

4. Get rid of the cartoon avatar, and be you!

People with cartoon avatars scare the bejesus out of me (unless of course it’s your business logo). There is something UNBELIEVABLY creepy about a guy who has a picture of a frog, or Bugs Bunny as his avatar. Your social media avatar is a representation of you. What’s with the cartoon? All you’re projecting to friends and/or potential mates is a serious image issue. Be you, be awesome, and no matter what you’ve got going down – rock that shit! I’ve been asked out on Twitter by COUNTLESS dudes with cartoon avatars and have yet to say yes to a single one for this very reason. You might as well just be walking around with “issues” stamped on your forehead. Quit it!!!

5. Leave the passive aggressiveness and negativity at the door.

No one likes a Debbie or Doug Downer. If you're having a bad day, start a private blog. I'm ALL about venting these things to the universe, but people actually check their social feeds and will actually see what you are saying. Yes, you might be sitting behind your monitor in your room all alone, but the SECOND you blast something out into social media it is then indexed in perpetuity. Create an anonymous Tumblr account – some sort of something – just keep ALLLLLLL of that Negative Ned or Nelly-ness off of social sites. Your friends and followers will thank you later.

Happy social media-ing everyone!!


***

Jen Friel is a lifecaster and corporate sponsored minimalist. She went out on over 103 dates in 9 months while couch surfing for a year building her website and bartering social media to live. Consequently, she’s an accidental expert on online dating. You can read all about her ongoing adventures on OKCupid at TalkNerdyToMeLover.com and follow them on Twitter.

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4. Get rid of the cartoon avatar, and be you!

Girls/Women and all other Females.
We know you are not Heidi Klum so put your REAL pic up.

What if the real "you" has a cartoon'ish demenour or personality? Will the next step be for you to tell that person to "grow up"?

I agree with getting rid of the cartoon avatars. In addition, dont put pictures of your children as your picture.

I love that the previous 2 people have exactly what you talked about
I am too lazy to have an avatar on this site

Sal > I'm 31 and I still dress like I was 15 or something, I read comic books, watch teen movies and cartoons. I really don't fell like I'm a regular grown up AT ALL. But my FB picture is not a cartoon, it is an actual picture. Still I wanted it to but fun and non grow up : had to be creative a bit, and I took a pretty silly picture of me, wearing funny clothes et makes a face I tink is both funny and representative of who I am. Still doesn't feel like a grown up, and people who sees that picture doesn't think I'm grown up as well!

"
I agree with getting rid of the cartoon avatars. In addition, dont put pictures of your children as your picture." : yyeees please, fuck all those kid and baby pictures!

Haha, and I must say I don't understand why is my avatar on this note a cartoon since that was a very early avatar I changed a while ago... It ruins all my previous speach! ^^

Get rid of my cartoon avatar because someone may think I have issues?
Not happening. See, for me the avatar changes to fit my mood or thoughts of the moment. That's one of the great things about the facebook photo albums....it makes one for profile pics. This, going off your statement concerning profile cartoon pics, would also show several sides of a person.
So what if I have a Marvin the Martian pic up. Maybe that day I'm in one of those moods. I also have political signs and comedic signs I use in addition to an actual picture. All part of me.
Besides, we ALL have issues of one sort or another. Basing not chatting with someone off of a cartoon pic on a social media is like pretending to know someone by the brand of soda they drink.
Then again, IF I were to try and "approach" someone via social media I'd be holding all but a "this person seems interesting/attractive/similar" opinion until after having "met" them. And maybe it was the pic that caught my eye in the first place.

I agree that this is great advice if you're using your profile to make friends or meet romantic/sexual partners. But if you aren't, I hardly think it's important.

No more frogs! A few things:

A. As mingol pointed out, if it's not a dating site, who gives a crap what someone looks like?

B. If it is a dating site, maybe the person values other things besides looks.

C. How are frogs and cartoons creepy?

D. Disregard everything I've said. I'm really just UNBELIEVABLY creepy.

I don't know, that whole line of thinking makes me think of his article I read that said to make sure you wear the right shoes because that's one of the things women notice.

If someone is so superficial that they do not want to get know me because the shoes I am wearing(or on topic, the avatar I have) then that is not anyone I wish to get to know in the first place. Though I guess when you think about it the cartoon avatar is a good screening process to weed out all the superficial and uptight people.

or if you're using your profile in a professional capacity (unless you are an animator, graphic designer, etc )

also i'm not sure the cartoon avatar statement should apply to a website like this, where a lot of people may choose to stay anonymous, or at least mostly anonymous.

The reason why your numbers go up when you post a picture on Facebook is because they view media posts as more relevant than just text. In general only 16% of your followers see your post, less than that if it is just text.

If you post a picture, video, etc, FB will put that in more newsfeeds, plus in general people are more likely to share an image, and that action creates more engaged users, which again per the logirhthym posts it higher and more often in newsfeeds.

FB wants it to be scannable, visible and direct.

What is a "corporate sponsored minimalist", exactly?

But what if my avatar is part cartoon, part me? Also, in my profile picture, I have TWO mustaches. You just can't see the one, because it's covered up by a larger cartoon mustache. And this fact amuses me.

Cartoons = issues. Got it. On the plus side, at least it's a great way to get insulted by random advice columnists on the internet!

thank you thank you thank you for point number one!!!

i'm a very firm believer in keeping all my social medium separate as i have a very very separate identity and use for each one. FINALLY someone who agrees with me on this.

(i work 'in the industry')

A corporate sponsored sellout pretending to be a minamalist cashing in on the recent "nerd" corporate merch explosion?

In my experience, they're both just for being bombarded by the inane, random expectorate of other people's minds. Which is why I no longer use either.

Whew I guess I'm glad I switched to this avatar then.

Pssh, what do you know - you have a cartoon avatar

(Am I the only one that still calls this a profile pic?)

I do. But, then again, I use a cartoon for my profile pic. I also still call my 'blog' my 'journal'. I detest the word 'blog'.

This...

...sometimes goes hand-in-hand with this...

Don't get me wrong though, as far as online dating, which is what the author of this piece seemed to mainly be referring to, you should probably get as much real information out there as possible, which includes a personal picture, if not as your primary avatar, then at least somewhere in your profile.

Personally, I couldn't imagine dating a semi-stranger who I have only interacted with over the web, but if I were going to, I'd want to see a real picture of that person at some point prior to meeting, just to acknowledge that they are who they say they are, at the very least. I can understand the point that a cartoon asking you for a real date is a wee bit creepy.

That said, there are many other reasons to visit a social network than to find a date or meet in real life. A lot of gals and guys join these sites strictly for entertainment, interesting conversation or light-hearted banter, and for those reasons, an authentic picture is not required at all.

When I joined SG earlier this week, I made a conscious decision to join under an assumed screen name. While my real personality and interests will show themselves through my behavior, I can do so with just enough anonymity to forego certain preconceptions and act as I please without caring who might be lurking about. I have a facebook account and emails where I use my real identity. If I meet someone here that I'd like to get more familiar with, I can easily pass along that info.

To me, that's one of the wonderful things about the internet and inventive community sites like SG. You are free to be whomever you want to be, and to develop relationships and have experiences completely separate from your everyday life. It's an escape, and it's for your own enjoyment. I can't see myself treating any of you any differently whether you have a picture of yourself up or not.

On these points, I couldn't agree more. Be cool, and don't be a dick, or you'll wind up sitting at the end of the bar alone.

<-----This isn't a cartoon.

HA! So do I!