"We don't have a choice on whether we DO social media, the question is how well we DO it."~ Erik Qualman
Social media can be an amazing tool, but also frustrating. It's a great way to get a message out and it's easy to do. What follows is the number of followers and how many likes you receive on a post. I've worked with free and paid social media in the digital industry for multiple brands, but when it comes to my own brand/social media I'm becoming frustrated.
In college, you are posting weekly or maybe sometimes daily because you are always doing something. From that moment, you gain more followers and receive more likes on your posts. After graduating college, I don't post as much. I noticed when I started posting on my story, I lost a significant amount of followers. Also when posting an image, I'm now receiving less likes than I normally do. Then I think, why do I care? The people that matter like my photos and will continue to follow me, right? In this day in age, people care about the numbers. How many people follow? Why did someone unfollow me? If I don't receive a certain amount of likes I'm going to delete this picture? I was thinking all these things in my head, but I know I'm not the only one that thinks this way.
I joined Facebook starting my Freshmen year of high school. It was a big deal for me. Facebook was a world with untapped potential. At the time, it was just a way for family/friends to stay connected and to keep all those awkward high school photos in one place. Then to follow was Twitter and Instagram. I joined both of those platforms my junior year of high school and again didn't post too much. I didn't know what posts would be stupid vs what would actually be cute. After heading to college that's when I started posting more because I was always doing something. After being a Gamma Chi for sorority recruitment, I actually deleted my Twitter account because I noticed myself not engaging with it. The only apps I continued to use was Instagram and Facebook.
Now I sit here thinking why do I have social media? When you see yourself losing followers or only getting a certain amount of likes, it makes you feel unliked. I think social media is great for branding and all companies should have it. It a great way to engage with customers and to get feedback. Most of the accounts I follow are brands that I love and celebrities, but I continue to like everyones photos. Do I need to be on social media every day.... no, I don't think so. In the industry that I work in, do I need to have social media skills and continue having my own accounts.... yes, most definitely. I've gone back and forth on whether or not delete my Instagram account. In the end, I've decided to keep it because of the industry that I work in. Not only am I keeping it, but my goal is to not worry about the numbers and just post what I feel necessary to post- whether in my story or feed.
With this being said, I'm heading on an adventure in May for 2 weeks. From there the only time I will be on social media is to post photos for family/friends to see, but I will not be attached to my phone scrolling through feeds. Maybe it's time for a social media break, so I come back with no frustration.