Is Facebook Making You Awkward? (Part 1)

Good intentions just aren’t enough on social media. When it comes to business and marketing, you have to bring your A game. You can’t afford a haphazard or questionable image. And if you’re the face of your organization, keep a tight watch on your personal presence online.

Here are some situations that you might relate to:

Scenario 1: The Absurd Like

You have a few minutes to kill, so you take out your smartphone and scroll through your newsfeed. As photos and statuses whiz past, you notice a smudge on your screen and swipe at it with your thumb. Out of time, you exit the app and get back to work.

The next morning you open your newsfeed only to see a disgusting photo of your 13-year-old cousin’s friend’s wart, complete with a gory description. About to scroll away from it, you notice that it’s been liked—by you.

What in the world? You would never have liked that.

You aren’t even Facebook friends with that guy! But you are friends with your cousin, who had commented on the post—landing it in your newsfeed. That smudge on your screen turned into a like.

Scenario 2: The Accidental Friendship

You’ve notice some new names appearing in the “People You May Know” column on Facebook. Arriving at the first profile, you realize you have no idea who this person is. As you scroll back up, your screen freezes. After several clicks, it unfreezes—only to reveal a “Friend Request Sent” button.

Wait, what? That’s not what you meant to do!

Scenario 3: The Appalling Post

After responding to comments on your company’s Facebook page, you decide to share a funny article from a new blog you discovered recently. You copy and paste the link in the status bar, add your own message, and post it. But when it’s published, the photo displayed is one of the ads from the article. Not only does it misrepresent the content to your audience, it’s also borderline inappropriate! Plus, the link’s text turned into an endless stream of jargon—too much data for the average reader.

Do you delete it and try reposting it? Do you comment on it to explain the article’s premise? You have a choice to make—and some skills to learn.

Don’t look like a weirdo on Facebook! It can put off clients and leads, and even dash your credibility. Without precision and knowledge, countless uncomfortable situations can arise from Facebook accidents.

Want to learn some ways to get better? Check back next week for some solutions in part two of this article!