Social Media: Bad Habits to kick in 2017
January 13, 2017
There are many written pieces on how to and what to do with Social Media, but what about those bad habits which we may now be adopting which we really must kick? Toilet seats up, elbows on tables, being late for appointments, speaking with your mouth full, dropping litter and much more can really annoy some people, so can the way we behave on social media attract the same unwanted negative attention?
Social media is a way of life for many and certainly attracts users from across the globe at all ages. Can we say that social media is a bad habit in itself and also are we adopting bad habits when we use the social media platforms that we love and spend so much time on?
Social media – A bad habit?
- When to use social media – Of course, not when we are driving or doing other things which requires our full focus for safety reasons. Get yourself a good night sleep and do not get your phone out as soon as you are between the sheets and end up reducing your sleeping time by spending hours flicking through social media updates.
- Be unsocial whilst on social – It happens all the time now it would seem, using social media when we should be socially engaging with others around us such as at meal times, when we go to see friends and family, during our breaks at work etc.
- Comparing ourselves to others – It is great to see what is happening in the world via social media as news is shared fast and most occasions you get the latest photos and videos to back things up. Some people are sharing things which can cause us to compare our lives to others, ie what people look like, the lifestyles they are leading, their perfect families, high wages, designer clothing and more can for many set depressive thoughts in our minds when comparing them all to ourselves. Do we really need to hear from your friends how good life is, your close friends have the perfect boyfriend / girlfriend, your best mate has lost 6lbs on a week’s diet etc. Not only comparing, but looking back can be an issue too, are you cyber-stalking your ex partner, following their posts, getting yourself upset if they are getting on with their lives and sharing positive updates?
- A bit on the side – Social media can very much so be addictive and can cause us to procrastinate away from what we should be doing (I hold my hand up to this myself). Logging in to see what is happening or watching a video on YouTube can be taking our concentration away from what we should be doing instead and this is highly relevant when it comes to work / business (unless you are lucky enough that social media is your main business). Try and keep set times in your day for social media and not be lured away to quickly scroll down your Facebook timeline.
Bad habits on social media:
- Spelling – Check your grammar and your spelling, especially checking for mistakes in people’s names / business names. Make sure if you are quoting something or even just commenting that you have the full facts in place.
- Your content or stolen content – When you use social media you must make sure that if you share content that it is yours to share and that includes not only images, but quotes, blogs, videos, reference to surveys etc. I see many of my own photos and quotes used by other social media users and it is annoying.
- Automated and robotic responses – Social media was created so that we could be more social friendly via the internet so try not to be someone who uses it as a cold robot as such, simply using canned responses all the time is easy to spot and can be seen as being anti-social and even rude.
- Spamming – Try not to spam on social media, though most of us expect marketing to happen, we just do not want to see an overload of it and especially not trying to ram products and services down the throat of people that it is not relevant to and who have not asked to be marketed to.
- Too many posts in one go – Timelines for people are what most will be using to see what is happening from the accounts which they follow. If you decide to push out say 20 tweets in one hit then you are only jamming up someones timeline and causing them to have to scroll though all your tweets to get to other people’s updates.
- Hi-jacking conversations and going overboard – Try not to jump on board other people’s conversations unless you politely introduce yourself and of course are looking to share relevant content. If something is causing you to want to say something then do it in moderation as many eyes could see what you share. By all means have a rant, but use caution too especially when it comes to politics and religion as this will cause a big negative effect if what you say is spotted by someone with opposite views.
- Privacy – Think carefully regarding what you are going to share, is it yours to share and have you permission to share it? You may have been to a family party, but does the person in the selfie with you really want their face on social media, are you sharing what someone else said on social media without their permission?
- Being vain on social media – I think we have gone past the phase where we were sharing everything we were doing from shopping in town to drinking coffee, but we are now seeing people posting too many selfie content which can also be annoying. Are you posting that update as you feel it is something your followers will be interested in, or are you simply posting it so that you get attention? Social media is not a replacement for a social life remember, if you are becoming depressed using it or not getting the likes / shares / comments that you need to make you feel good in yourself, then it may be time to switch off from social media for a while and step out in to the real world and socialise.
Social Media and Digital Marketing on LinkedIn – Join the group today: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/4225326
You May Also Enjoy
Property expert on how to bag the BEST mortgage deal in today’s market
Finding a good mortgage deal in today’s market demands more than just comparing rates. While the average 2-year and 5-year fixed mortgage rates have gone down this year, they’re still higher than rates pre-pandemic. This means those in their current homes will have to pay more than they once were each month, and new buyers…
Read More 
Halloween Named the UK’s Most Popular Moving Day of 2025
Halloween was the most popular day to move house in 2025, breaking the long-standing trend of summer being the busiest time for home moves. We analysed the data and spoke to industry experts to understand why the peak moving day has shifted and why it fell on an international holiday. Compare My Move reviewed more than 170,000 house moves made in 2025 and…
Read More 
Industry Response to Halifax House Price Index
Industry response to the Halifax House Price Index December 2025 The latest index shows that: – On a monthly basis, house prices fell by 0.6% between November and December of last year. Annually, house prices were up 0.3% versus this time last year, although this annual rate of growth had slowed from 0.7% the previous…
Read More 
Halifax House Price Index December 2025
House prices in December 2025 were 0.3% higher compared to the same month a year earlier. UK house prices dipped in December • House prices dipped by -0.6% in December, following a -0.1% fall in November • Average property price is now £297,755, the lowest since June • Annual growth slowed to +0.3%, down from…
Read More 
Homebuyer demand returns following Autumn Budget
New research from Property DriveBuy reveals that Bristol, Tyne & Wear, and South Yorkshire emerged as the UK’s most in-demand areas of the housing market following the Autumn Budget, with as many as 61% of homes listed for sale successfully securing a buyer in Q4 2025. Property Drivebuy analysed residential listings data across the nation…
Read More 
Economic uncertainty tops agents’ worries in 2026
“Make-or-break” 2026 looms for estate agents as costs, red tape and reform pile pressure on sector Agents warn of ‘survival year’ ahead as new Alto Agency Trends Report reveals deep fears over rising costs and regulation UK estate and letting agents are heading into 2026 fearing a make-or-break year, as soaring costs, economic uncertainty and…
Read More