Overthinking Social Media

It’s easy to overthink social media, and to most people who care about their image and value, it comes naturally. But while you try to find the perfect thing to say or share, overthinking your posts and interactions on Facebook, Twitter and other social platforms is rarely good for your brand or business.

“Will people like what I say? Could it be interpreted the wrong way? Will asking a question make me look less like an expert? Am I having too much fun with this? Do people care? Will it make a difference? Is this too personal for a business page? Is it really good enough to share?”

Do these questions ever occur to you while posting on social media? Do you chicken out just before hitting the ‘share it with the world’ button? For most business owners building their online presence through social networking, and driven to develop real engagement and trust with fans, followers and potential customers, these questions are inevitable. It’s that little voice that brings doubt and never seems to go away.

The problem is, overthinking social media is a costly exercise and it hinders your activity. It makes you less of a human and more of a robot. It makes you feel safe in a narrow realm of topics and makes you share more of the same, over and over again – and yes, that makes you b-o-r-i-n-g. It often leads you to spend loads of time calculating your social activity, for very little output (because most status updates just don’t make the cut, right?). Even worse, you’re missing out on an audience that would LOVE your content, but can’t see it because it’s all in your head!

Social media isn’t like that 3-line Google ad or sales page that you must get absolutely perfect. Daily social media activity isn’t about copywriting – it’s about sharing value, revealing your genuine brand (and the people behind it), building relationships and gaining exposure.

So go on! Let your guards down and allow yourself to share things that come naturally, without fear and without any attachment to the outcome. As long as your focus is on providing genuine value that is relevant to your audience, through information, inspiration or entertainment, it’s worth sharing!

Will everyone like it? Probably not. Will you ruffle some feathers? Maybe. Will it make you look like a fool? Unlikely. Will you lose fans or followers? Possibly, but if they don’t like your content, they don’t belong in your target market. The more genuine and valuable you are on social media, the more you will attract people who genuinely like you.

Not overthinking social media doesn’t mean you shouldn’t measure your results. Like everything else, you should always do more of what works, and less of what doesn’t work. So regularly use your social media reporting tools to identify the activity that generates the most results! For example, use Facebook Insights to evaluate which posts generated the most reach, engagement or virality!

What would you do if you gave yourself more freedom on social media?

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