The estimated reading time for this post is 6 minutes
If you’re in the mood for Spring Cleaning, don’t forget about your social media accounts. Actually, there’s never a bad time to clean up your social media accounts. Your social media accounts are how much of the world views you, so make sure you’re showing your best side of yourself!
By taking a little time to polish up your accounts you’ll give a better impression of yourself to others. You never know when a recruiter, potential client, long-lost friend or other person may be checking you out online. You only get one chance to make a good first impression so make it count.
This infographic gives you 10 tips for cleaning up your social media accounts:
Source: BestMastersPrograms.org
1. Google Yourself
When was the last time you searched for your name in Google? If you have a common name you may not get helpful results but you may be surprised at what you find about yourself. See where you’ve been mentioned and see what is being said about you.
Check out photos of you by clicking the Image tab at the top of the Google page. Not all images are accurate, but you can still see what others who search for you will be finding.
[tip] For fun, type “(your first name) is” to see what Google thinks of your name.[/tip]
2. Delete What You Don’t Like
If you have unflattering photos of yourself on social media, delete them. The fun party pictures that might have been a laugh when you were younger probably won’t impress a future employer.
Services such as Timehop and Facebook’s new On This Day show you forgotten pictures from your past. Use these reminders to delete images you’d rather no one see ever again.
3. Set Limits
Review your Facebook privacy settings. Delete tags on photos others have posted on you that you want off of your Timeline.
Don’t miss Privacy Checkup – Check Your Facebook Privacy Settings in 3 Easy Steps!
4. Think Twice Before You Post
As you’re cleaning up your social media accounts from the past, be mindful of the future. Remember that anything you post can come back to haunt you later.
Look at the tone of your posts. If you’re constantly griping about others or bragging about yourself you may be sending the wrong message. Follow the 80/20 rule of social media: 80% of your posts should be about others, 20% about yourself.
5. Get Rid of Dead Accounts…(?)
The infographic makes the point that employers could think that you don’t follow through if you have inactive social media accounts. I’ve also heard that you should close inactive social media accounts to avoid the potential of hackers taking over these accounts.
I have mixed feelings about closing inactive social media accounts. If you have an account with your name or your brand name, you may want to retain the account to prevent others from grabbing that name. You may also want to use that account someday in the future should that social media site become popular or your social media needs change.
I’d appreciate hearing your thoughts about closing inactive social media accounts. Tell us what you think about this in the Comments section below.
6. Email Accounts
You may not have given your email address a second thought since you set it up, but your moniker can give a positive or negative impression. If you chose the name “SunshineBearIsMyFavoriteCareBear” @emailprovider.com back in the days when you rode a school bus in the morning, now may be the time to change it.
⇒ Check out How to Make Sure You Never Have to Change Your Email Address Again for tips on getting the email address that’s the best fit for you.
7. Take a Break
Social media is ever-changing and it’s easy to get caught up in checking it way too often. Fear of Missing Out #FOMO is a condition that compels us to keep up with social media so we are constantly up-to-date on the latest happenings.
Taking a break from social media can help us reconnect with friends, give us perspective and ground us in the real world. The virtual world will still be there later.
⇒ Check out The Ultimate Guide to Unplugging from the Internet for ideas on how to take a break from the Internet.
8. Set Alerts
Use Google or Talkwalker Alerts to be notified when you’re mentioned online. You can set up alerts for other purposes too, such as a business you’re interested in following, your employer, a family member or any other keywords you want to know about.
⇒ See, Hello Talkwalker Alerts, Farewell Google Alerts! for more information on setting up alerts.
9. Update Your Profile Picture
Take a look at your profile pictures for your social media accounts: that’s the face people will be seeing. If your profile pictures is a cartoon drawing, you may not be putting your best face forward.
10. Leave the Comedy to Comedians
Sarcasm is a tricky maneuver on social media. That snarky comment you thought was hilarious may not play well with the general public.
If you’re going to use humor, make sure it’s funny. Otherwise, pass on the post.
11. Clean Up Your Permissions
This tip isn’t in the infographic but you should still do it any way. Check to see which apps and services you’ve given permission to access your social media accounts. Every time you use Facebook, Twitter or other social media account to log into a site or an app you’re giving permission to access your accounts.
If you still want to give permission, no problem. But if you’re not using the site or the app any more, you should delete your permissions.
Don’t miss ⇒ How to Clean Up Your Permissions Easily! for tips on shortcuts to take care of this task.
Your Thoughts
Have you taken the time to clean up your social media accounts? When was the last time you Googled yourself? Do you judge people based on their social media accounts? What tips do you have for cleaning up social media accounts? Let us know in the Comments section below!
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Verizon Pass Along Hope
Do you have an old cell phone that you’re no longer using lying around the house? You could donate that phone to make a difference in someone’s life.
Tomorrow Verizon Wireless launches its Pass Along Hope campaign to help survivors of domestic violence through donated cell phones and social media messages of hope.
From Verizon:
The Philadelphia Eagles and Verizon Wireless will continue a decade-long partnership of raising awareness of domestic violence and funding for area organizations through the annual “Pass Along Hope” campaign. The campaign, which supports domestic violence survivors, will officially launch at the newly renovated Verizon Wireless Smart Store at Roosevelt Mall in Philadelphia on Monday, March 31, with help from Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Jordan Matthews.
From March 31 through May 2, Eagles fans and community members are encouraged to take part in the interactive “Pass Along Hope” campaign by sharing personal messages of hope on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, using the hashtag #EaglesVZWHope. Campaign participants can also donate no-longer-used mobile phones to regional Verizon Wireless stores. For every phone donated and every social media message shared with the hashtag #EaglesVZWHope, Verizon Wireless will donate $1 to the HopeLine from Verizon program, which supports area domestic violence shelters and organizations. Messages of hope will be aggregated and shared on the soon-to-launchEagles webpage, www.PhiladelphiaEagles.com/HopeLine.
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* Social Media Chalk image courtesy of mkhmarketing via Flickr and Creative Commons
Hi Carolyn,
It’s true – Spring is officially here, though at our end, we are starting off with the Summers already, so it gets pretty hot during the day for now.
Good reminders in this infographic and post to clean up our social media accounts too. Love the links you shared with each one, most of which I’ve read earlier, but good to check them out again. I’d keep this post aside for the coming weekend I think when I can go through it all in detail.
Thanks for sharing this one with us. Have a nice week ahead 🙂
Hi Harleena, Yes, we are having a late winter here. Yesterday it was 22 °F/-5.5°C when we woke up. We’re still wearing our winter coats but maybe by April we will warm up.
But there’s never a bad time to clean up your social media. Yes, these tips aren’t ground-breaking but seeing them together in this infographic is a helpful reminder that we need to pay attention to our accounts and keep them in good shape.
Thanks for your wonderful comment and for sharing this article, Harleena!
Hey Carolyn,
So what do you do in the case of wanting to keep the account because it’s your name and you don’t want someone else grabbing it? That’s what we were taught early on and I’m of the saying thinking myself. If it’s not going to be used then why bother right!
So the only thing so far I’ve abandoned is my Facebook business page. I still have people liking it and mentioning me through the page so I’m not ignoring those notices, I’m just not wasting my time posting anything to that account any longer.
I don’t have to worry about recruiters or anyone like that caring about my account and the ones that allow you to monitor who sees them well I have that all taken care of. That’s why I’m not posting everything under the sun to my social media accounts. It’s not that I don’t want people to see pictures or things like that but I try to respect the other people who are in the picture with me. There is nothing I’ve posted that I’m ashamed of or don’t really want anyone seeing. I’ve really been cautious about that from the beginning.
I do think we need to stay on top of things though. I think it was late last year but I deleted some old email accounts I’m no longer using. Even didn’t renew domain names I’ll never use again. I just try my best to stay on top of those things although I’m not perfect.
This is a great reminder though, thank you for that.
Have a wonderful week.
~Adrienne
Hi Adrienne, Yes, when I first started The Wonder of Tech, I had excellent advice from an app developer who told me to grab The Wonder of Tech on social media accounts so I would have it available if I needed it. He predicted that this site would be successful (yea!) and I might need to have the name wonderoftech on social media accounts in the future.
I’m very glad I took his advice and now have wonderoftech on most major social media profiles. I’m not active on all of them but I don’t want anyone else grabbing that name, I want control of it.
So I do struggle with not wanting inactive accounts versus making sure that no one else gets the name. You’re right, it’s ineffective to try to be everywhere, you have to see what works best for you. Some social media accounts bring a lot of traffic to The Wonder of Tech others don’t bring traffic but I enjoy being on them. Some sites just don’t click for me either way but I still have accounts there.
Great point about domain names. I grabbed domain names for my daughters’ names. Who knows, they may want them some day and they’re inexpensive to maintain in the meantime. I have thewonderoftech.com just in case someone types that in instead of wonderoftech.com. Plus I don’t want someone else getting thewonderoftech.com.
You never know who will be checking you out. If they see an inactive social media profile what impression will they have? But if they see a social media profile with your brand name run by someone else that could be worse!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this, Adrienne. We’re all still figuring out social media and the best ways to use it.
Love the infographic, I have to admit that from time to time, I do like to have a clean out on my social media and yes those unflattering images are always the first to go, followed by those people that follow you on Twitter and friend on Facebook only for the intention of spamming!
Hi Karen, I’m so pleased you like this infographic and that you are a fan of cleaning your social media accounts. Yes, unflattering photos aren’t good for anyone’s social media profile so the sooner they’re deleted the better.
Good point about vetting friends and followers. You can use tools such as manageflitter to find people to unfollow on Twitter. You can also mute friends on Facebook if they don’t post interesting or relevant updates.
Thanks for adding your great tips to our list, Karen!
Hello Carolyn, this is my first time visit on your Blog. I was looking for social media guideline on Google. By searching got your Blog name and just read the whole article. Really these tips will helpful more as a newcomer Blogger and as learning Social media marketing. I am going to follow your these 10 tips from today for my Social media network
cheers
Hello Tonmoy, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! I’m so pleased that this article was helpful to you in learning about the best ways to use social media. Good luck with implementing these steps, Tonmoy!
Hi Carolyn,
I’m glad to say I do most of this stuff. I do post amusing comments on Facebook, they get a response. Today is April Fools day so I mentioned looking for Medieval treasure again! I’m waiting for the weather to improve so I can really get into Spring photography. I’ll be at a narrow-boat gathering at the weekend, which should be me some colorful shots.
Hi Mike, Good point, April Fool’s Day is probably the safest day to use humor on social media. I wish you the best of luck in finding treasure no matter what time period it’s from!
Spring is very late in coming where we are. We are waking up to cold temperatures every morning, below freezing! I look forward to your Spring posts and warmer weather.
Most people dont care about what they post online. They fail to realize that this can hunt them. For me I do delete accounts I no longer use. And I think before updating.
Hi Mazino, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! That’s great you take such good care of your social media accounts. Keep up the good work!
Hi Carolyn, great tips and the infographic is very informative. I don’t clean my social media very often. I’m not very active on facebook personally but for my book page, I update regularly. I share my blog posts and other followers posts there and it’s all very positive. I don’t post drunk photos or update statuses while under the influence LOL. Still, this post has motivated me to take a fresh look at my accounts. Thanks for the tips. I popped over from AhaNow where I often see your lovely face 🙂
Hi Lisa, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! It’s so great to have you visit here, especially coming from one of my favorite blogs, Aha!NOW.
Great point, even if we’re careful about what we post, we should clean up our social media from time to time. It’s really our opportunity to show our best face to the world so we want to make the most of that opportunity.
I’m so pleased this article has given you motivation to clean up your accounts. Stay positive, Lisa, and keep updating your book page to engage your followers.
Thanks so much for the visit and your lovely comment.
Cleaning your social media profiles on regular basis is must …
It gets your rid of OUTDATED or garbage stuff ..
It is all amazing, the way you describe it Do perfectly ..
Nice post Carolyn ..
Hey Carolyn,
This is a very timely post. One thing I have been thinking about doing for a long time, but never done, is to delete dead accounts. I have joined a lot of different social media sites and I’m not active on most of them. This is my number one thing to do for my spring cleaning.
Hi Jens, Yes, if you’re not using these accounts and they aren’t tied to your brand name, you should close them. Why have dormant accounts hanging around? Best to tidy up your social media accounts.