The world has been given a gift – social media. This innovative technology is also a curse when users fail to appropriately engage with it. For class I read “The 7 NEW Deadly Sins of Social Media” by Steph Parker. Social media trends have changed dramatically over the last few years and the new list of deadly sins address the issues that we see every day.
One of the worst sins is uniformity. Every social media platform is different and serves different purposes. An organization will receive criticism when it shares the same exact message across each platform. Social media professionals should know the purposes of each platform and how to effectively engage users on them. Professional should also know each platform has entirely different user demographics.
Personally, I have seen many successes and failures by organizations. Based on my own experiences, here are deadly sins I would put together on a list. Yes, I included a few from Parker because of the importance of them.
- Crisis Communication Responses – Too many times we have seen organizations only dig itself into a bigger whole when it comes to responding to a crisis. Take responsibility for the organization’s action(s). One bad Tweet can hurt your relationship with your stake holders. Be smart. Take a deep breath. Relax.
- Timeliness – We are in a world of 24/7 coverage of news. Be on top of your game and be amongst the first to respond on social media. Remember this, “The early bird gets the worm”.
- Repurposing – Major posts from campaigns should be revisited over time to keep users engaged. If you don’t do this you will run into the abandonment issues. Be careful when repurposing posts. Change it up. Be fresh. Users who have seen it before won’t appreciate it as much the second time around if it’s copied verbatim.
- Sensitivity – Many organizations have great responses when it comes to customer service issues. The ones that standout usually have a witty reply about them (i.e.. Marquette’s response to student complaints about today’s weather). Major organizations can run into issues with this technique because it could potentially set off a customer even more. It is okay to be witty, but use it appropriately.
- Assault – Parker had this right. Do not post too much, otherwise you will drown your followers in posts that are unimportant.
- Quantitativeness – Keep the focus on the stake holders. It should not only be about money or stats; it should be about the relationship you have with stake holders. It is what makes you stand out.
- Uniformity – This is an easy way to look like an amateur. I’m still guilty of this at times. Take some extra time to build quality in your posts.
Try to avoid the deadly sins of social media. Following best practices now will give you long-term success.
Aaron Jay Ledesma 
I really like that you made your own list of seven deadly sins of social media, Aaron. I agree with number one completely. One bad response, one bad tweet and people could hold it against you. Once something is on the web, it’s hard to get off. Yes, they can delete a tweet but it’s still in cyber space somewhere. Would you agree that companies should focus most on positive content and responding to customers/potential customers? I see social media as a great way for companies to be able to interact more with their target audience. Think before you tweet! Timeless is a great one. Being able to tweet in an instant at 4am is really useful when their are so many things going on in the world. Being on top of your game and paying attention to whats going on as well as what competitors are tweeting about is a great way to go about social media. Repurposing is nothing I’ve really considered before but your point on keeping it fresh and changing it up is great. Having new interesting content will get people to be more engaged and more interesting. Sensitivity and assault are right on track! I may be guilty of over tweeting from time to time..but who isn’t! In terms of businesses, they should be sure not to over post and annoy customers. If they over post or post content that is unrelated, it could cause them business -which also ties in with Quantitativeness and uniformity. Keep people interested! Overall, great post! Very insightful.
Aaron great post, I believe you have found some of the deadliest sins of social media. And you laid it out in a very easy to read and apply way, and I think this will be helpful for many professionals as they mange accounts etc. Do you think these sins will change as new platforms are created, or as the old ones evolve? If so what changes do you think we can expect in the future?
I really take to heart your point about “crisis communication responses”. It’s interesting, so much of this class has been centered around the time and effort it takes to create meaningful relationships and through social channels. Brand loyalty takes time, but the inverse takes no time at all. There are few things more damning to a company, in my opinion, then refusing to own up to mistakes.