"If traveling back in time was possible, I would have done it", said Sandra.... Sadly, she can’t....
After completing the Advanced Level, at a high school in Yaoundé, Cameroon, Sandra moved to study at the University of Buea. She came from an average home that was barely just surviving. While in Buea, away from parental control, she started living a wayward life. I'll spare you all the details and go straight to what she actually regretted the most. To get some extra cash from guys, she got involved into a sort of prostitution. To attract high quality and rich men, she had to frequently post very sexy pictures of herself, some almost half naked. She saw that as the fastest and easiest way to make money temporarily while looking for decent a job.
She later on got a job which could sustain her to an extent. Though it wasn't really a good offer, she still completely let go of her previous lifestyle and became really a decent person. As the years went by, the pay became insufficient to sustain her, so she went searching for another job. She searched for months to no avail due to job scarcity in Buea. Fortunately, she got introduced by a friend to a well renowned company where this friend works.
Filled with joy, she immediately resigned from her old job. Everything was smooth until a couple of days before the start of the new job that she suddenly got disqualified for the position. The manager of the company came across her Facebook account, and got skeptical of keeping her. Though now a different person, her social media profiles and posts were used to judge her in this situation. "If traveling in time was possible, I would have traveled back to fix things", said Sandra.
The image you portray on social media will go a long way to affect you in many different domains beyond what you can imagine:
It could be used against you or in your favor during a job interview,
It could be used for or against you in court
It can negatively or positively influence your progress at your job side
It can have a heavy influence on your kids or siblings, especially the younger ones
These are few situations where our social media could ruin our reputation. How can we avoid this? Here are 10 tips on how to portray the right image on social media.
1. Keep Personal and Private Matters Offline
There’s a saying which goes like this: “Do the right thing at the right time in the right place”. Not everything is meant to be shared on social media, though it may seem right. Some of the things we normally expose to people are meant to be kept private. Examine the content you post and try to filter out the unnecessary
2. Know Your Audience
You won’t want to address a 30-year-old adult as though you were talking to an 11-year-old kid right? You won’t tell both of them the same things in the same manner. To be able to know what to say and how to say it, you need to know more about your viewers such as their age group, interests, and other demographics. By so doing you reduce your chances of being misunderstood or taken out of context just because you are being viewed by the wrong set of people.
3. Contribute towards Community Growth
Are you that person that just comes online to post jokes, funny videos or memes? Why not spare some minutes of your time to examine the community? Spot out a problem, think of a solution, and then address the matter on your social media platforms. This will go a long way to boosting your social media personality as you will be giving viewers more reason to want to view your posts, status, or stories.
4. Show Empathy, Love and Respect.
No one will like to converse with a bully. Portraying, hate-filled and disrespectful attitudes on social media gives you an undesirable image. It could go to the extent of affecting your physical life. You will be doing your reputation a huge favor if you can learn to interact with others with empathy, love and respect.
5. Don’t be a Robot
We all agree that it's very nice when you can just sit and automated responders do your work for you. Imagine this happening with a very large audience. This means that whenever you message someone, there’s a high change that a bot will be the replying you. Just the knowledge of this will discourage you from reaching out. Use bots only for repeatable mundane tasks and not for every interaction.
6. Cut off Some Social Media Friendships
Some people on social media behave like the FBI or the CIA. They comment, question and react on almost every post you make. When such people begin to bypass their limits, cut them off. Set clear boundaries which people should be aware of. In the nutshell, command some respect for yourself.
7. Control Your Tone
Typing though simple could get complex. It’s very easy for people to misunderstand you from a simple negligence on your part. For instance, you need to know when to add exclamations and when not to, or when to use capital letters and when not to. Simple punctuations and emojis can make a big deal out of nothing. Typing in all capital letters is often understood to mean yelling or screaming. Also, using exclamations indicates an order. Those are just a few unspoken rules you should be aware of when communicating on social media.
8. Don’t Get into Unnecessary Arguments
We are all witnesses of the numerous arguments that take place online, with everyone strongly defending their opinions. It’s a waste of time to try to force your thinking on others. Whether it’s comparing football players, countries, Foods, tribes etc. It’s always a losing proposition. These arguments never end because nobody wants to be proven wrong. Therefore, engaging in such discussions only makes you look stupid and frankly it’s a waste of your time.
9. Apologize when you’re Wrong
Mistakes are bound to occur sometimes. As we know perfection isn’t a characteristic of humans. When people rebuke you for something, check into it to verify if you were wrong or not, and if you were, do well to Apologize. This is an act that cleans up your image on social media
10. Take A Break
Learn to stay off from social media sometimes when it’s unbearable, or when you are not in a good mental or physical state. If not, you may end up posting something that you’ll later regret. We are all human, so, when it reaches a point that your heart can’t take anymore, take a break for a few hours. It will definitely do the mind and body some good.
Mindful of how important your social media image is, and knowing what it takes to build an irresistible personality on social media, do well to follow these few tips. In just few months, you won’t believe what a respectable person you would’ve become. Leave a comment about your opinion on this topic and what you will want us to elaborate on next time. Also, do SUBSCRIBE to our channel for more enriching content. Thank you for reading and until next time, BESTech remains your Best Bet