Are You a Social Media Pack Rat?
May 17 is National Pack Rat Day. In honor of this holiday, learn to declutter your social media profiles with the Public Speaker’s 6 easy tips.
Lisa B. Marshall
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Are You a Social Media Pack Rat?
May 17 is National Pack Rat Day.
The point of this day is to take the time to assess our surroundings and see if we’re hoarding or collecting things that just add clutter to our already busy lives. That’s why today, I want to talk about how to declutter your social media profiles – especially if you are a social media pack rat.;
What are some of the things we “collect” when it comes to social media? It can be anything from friends, to followers, connections, photos, pages, groups, and on and on it goes. Let’s take a look at some areas that might benefit from a little spring cleaning:
Tip #1: Update Your Bio
People do read your profile information. Every day. Check to make sure your social media profiles are still up to date. This is probably most important on LinkedIn. Be sure your resume and job titles are current. Clean up the keywords you use to describe your work experience. Get rid of generic descriptors such as “people person,” “team player” or “process-oriented.” Replace them with terms that specifically describe your hard skills. Add some quantitative evidence of your skills and abilities instead of using generalities.
See also; Be Specific in Your Online Resume
Tip #2: Clean Up Your Photos
Throughout the year, I go through and remove pictures I’ve posted online, especially if they’ve been up for a while. I do this at regular intervals because I’m concerned about privacy.
See also: How to Maintain Your Privacy on the Web
I suggest at least going through your photos and removing any that could potentially hurt you in a job search or hurt your reputation. I store my photos locally, however, I know that for many people, Facebook is the only place they keep photos. I suggest finding a more secure and less public way of storing them.
Tip #3: Declutter Your Newsfeed
Sometimes my Facebook and Twitter feeds look a lot like spam. The next few times you log on, pay close attention to what’s showing up in your feed and think about how to declutter.
For example, I’ve hidden a few people who constantly post product advertisements or go on political rants. I’ve also “unliked” pages that aren’t interesting or relevant to me or that post too often.
Tip #4: Limit the Groups You Join
When I first joined LinkedIn, I added myself to every group that was remotely related to my career or interests. At times, I’ve joined the groups that LinkedIn recommended for me in their emails.
However, soon enough my email account was overloaded with messages and discussions and I couldn’t keep up. I learned my lesson and removed myself from 95% of these groups, keeping just the ones that truly interested me. Facebook groups can also add to newsfeed clutter, so choose the groups you join carefully and leave the ones that add lots of volume but no benefit to your life.
Tip #5: Tighten Your Privacy Settings
Check the privacy settings on social media sites you have accounts on to make sure you’re as protected as you want to be.
For example, I recently changed a Facebook setting so that I get to approve posts or photos I’m tagged in before they show up on my timeline. Check to see who can read your tweets or view your photos. I’m also considering making my personal Facebook page private so that listeners of my podcasts know to join the official pages for my shows, rather than my personal page which is only reserved for close friends and family.
Oh, and why not use National Pack Rat Day as a reminder to change your passwords too? After the recent Heartbleed episode, we can all use an extra layer of security to make sure our personal information doesn’t get into the wrong hands. Check out Tech Talker’s episode on Safe and Easy Ways to Store Your Passwords for tips on how to manage all your passwords with just one simple app.
Tip #6: Reconsider Your Social Media Use
My final tip may be the most important one. Take a step back and think about your social media use. Are you easily distracted by it when you should be doing something else? Does it simply eat up too much of your time? I recently removed social media apps from my iPad so I wouldn’t be tempted to check them when I’m with my family. What are some ways you can limit the constant distraction of social media? Let me know in Comments.
National Pack Rat Day is the perfect reminder that we build up clutter in every aspect of our lives. Don’t be a hoarder: clean up your social media act.
This is Lisa B. Marshall, Helping you maximize sales, manage perceptions, and enhance leadership through keynotes, workshops, books, and online courses. Passionate about communication; your success is my business.
I wanted to thank “ellerl” and the “Tiwterbug” for the five star reviews on iTunes – your feedback helps others find the podcast, so I sincerely appreciate it. If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe, rate, and review the Public Speaker on iTunes!
Stressed woman image courtesy of Shutterstock.
About the Author
Lisa B. Marshall Lisa holds masters with duel degrees in interpersonal/intercultural communication and organizational communication. She’s the author of Smart Talk: The Public Speaker’s Guide to Success in Every Situation, as well as Ace Your Interview, Powerful Presenter, and Expert Presenter. Her work has been featured in CBS Money Watch, Ragan.com, Woman’s Day, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, and many others. Her institutional clients include Johns Hopkins Medicine, Harvard University, NY Academy of Science, University of Pennsylvania, Genentech, and Roche.