STOP USING MY SOCIAL MEDIA TO DETERMINE IF I'M "WORKING" OR NOT
This is not a new thing, but it has happened to me TWICE in the last 2 weeks and because of that, I’m finding that I need to say something …. because if it’s happened to me TWICE in 2 weeks and multiple times before those times, then it’s definitely happening to at least one other business owner … haha …. and the thing is this:
CHECKING IN ON A SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNT AND THEN APPLYING WHAT YOU SEE TO THEIR REAL LIFE
Basically, it’s when a business owner is sick, or their kids are home from school and they are focusing on parenting, or they are out of town for a personal reason, or this, that, and the other thing is happening and they have to put work off or focus on life and not work projects at the time … and a client goes to their social media, sees they just actively posted something and says:
OH YEAH, I THOUGHT YOU WEREN’T WORKING BUT I SEE YOU POSTED ON SOCIAL MEDIA!!!!
Not only is it completely unfair, but it’s an inaccurate and false reading of what is actually happening in the life of the person who has the business social media account!! And here is why:
POSTING TO A SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNT TAKES LESS THAN 5 MINUTES AND CAN BE DONE FROM ANYWHERE
… and that’s giving extra time for spelling errors, tagging, etc … you can be sitting at the doctor’s office waiting to be called in and post something to your business social media account … you can be at the park with your kids … you can be almost anywhere and put up a quick “I’m still around and exist” post to your following … even deathly ill in bed.
2. IT DOESN’T EVEN HAVE TO BE YOU IN REAL TIME
… with all the social media managing companies out there and ‘auto posting’ apps, the person ‘posting’ doesn’t even have to be the person posting! I could be SLEEPING in bed with a super high fever and covered in a rash and my social media account could be living a life of its own … so does that mean I lied about being sick!!?? NOPE!!!!
3. STORIES ARE DOWNLOADABLE SO YOU CAN REPOST
… if I take a video ‘Story’ for my business account that I love, I will download it for future use … I have a ‘bank’ of beautiful Stories of my work, or graphics, or things I know I want to share again for the reason of: having something quick to post when life is busy and I still want to share something pretty or meaningful with my followers. Sometimes, if I’m in the mood to ‘talk to my following’ but I know it’s not an ideal time to post something, I will pre-record it and post it at a later time … so: even Stories aren’t an accurate reading of REAL TIME in a business owner’s life!
4. WHAT YOU POST HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ACTUAL PROJECTS YOU ARE WORKING ON AT THE TIME
One of the people who got angry with me these last 2 weeks about social media said to me: I saw you posting all kinds of websites on Instagram while you were supposed to be designing my website. Well, yeah - I’m a multi-tasker! I post lots of projects that launched MONTHS AGO on social media all the time … if I only was allowed to post graphics of projects I was currently working on, my social media account would barely get updated … it’s just a silly thing to say. And if anyone is sitting here going: good to know you talk sh*t about your clients on this blog, ^^ that client abused me in so many ways during our time together and after, that I feel completely ok using that as an example - zero guilt, actually.
Look, the point is this: you have no idea what is happening in a business owner’s life day to day, minute to minute, week to week … social media is NOT, I repeat: NOT an accurate reading of their life. If someone said they aren’t working because of ‘xyz’ and you try to be a detective and use their social media against them … well, what does that say about you??
XO~ Heather
