It’s true, the Grass Roots Media team spends a lot of time on social media. We love how it can bring people and communities together. We love how it can be used to build businesses. We love how it can connect us with the rest of the world in an instant.
However, we also have a serious bone to pick with the biggest tool of our trade.
So, at our Christmas party we decided to start a list as a healthy outlet for our frustrations. Here is a condensed version of the things that drive us nuts about social media.
- Clickbait. Nope. Nope. Nope. If you have real news, be straight up with us, yo.
- Ghost Followers. They may make a profile look good but they’re not real. Sometimes contest chasers. Sometimes bots. Sometimes trolls. Always annoying.
- REALLY LONG links in posts. Protip: use Bitly to shorten all of your links before you post. Want to know a hack on how to make them disappear all together but still post back to your site? Shoot us a DM and we will spill the beans!
- Too many hashtags on an instagram post Watch this space….we will be sharing our thoughts on this soon!
- Facebook incorrect tag. You know the one - when a Facebook post celebrates something awesome but then their tag doesn’t work?! Here is what Anna has to say about that.
- Ads in messenger. Is no place sacred?!
- Time - the addictive mindless scroll. 🤚We battle this too. Hence our boundaries. Would you like to know more about what we do to combat this in real life? Let us know and we might share a future post about it.
- IRL social interaction blocker. We sound like mothers, “Put down your phones and talk to your sister!” But it’s true.
- Fewer comments. Fewer people are commenting on posts and engaging. Not only does this make our Community Chatter’s job more difficult, but it is reducing the quality of conversations between brands and their customers.
- Vague sharing of problems for attention’s sake. Don’t get us wrong, we have seen the power of social media to aid mental health in our industry, but for those who are carefully crafting a post to simply get attention - we encourage you to call a friend. Chat it out. Offline. Here is another great resource!
That being said….
Now that we sound like grumpy old cats, know that we also FIRMLY believe social media is not all bad. There’s a time and a place. Here’s why.
We exist to help YOU, as members of the primary industries, to tell your story well and we believe social media is one of the most effective tools in your belt.
This is the heartbeat of everything we do.
When we are fed up with social media and want to throw in the towel, we remind ourselves WHY we are here and that your story is worth it. Your story is worth the time and effort to get to the people who need to hear it.
So bring on 2020. We can’t wait to see your stories shine online. Let’s us know if you need a hand.
What would you add to the Social Media Pet Peeve list? Comment below or DM us and we will be sure add it and tag you in an upcoming social media series!
