When Was The Last Time You Did a Social Media Clean-Up?
It’s hard to think of a time when our lives were not displayed online. Especially now with everyone constantly posting pictures and stories on social media it feels like we’re always connected to everyone, everywhere.
Social media is a great way to keep in touch with your friends and family or to find new people with similar interests to connect with. But when we compare what we posted 10 or even five years ago to what we’re posting today, it’s like night and day.
When the internet and social media platforms like MySpace started, everyone wanted to remain anonymous, hidden, behind a username and fake profile picture. No one ever dreamt about sharing any personal information of themselves with the fear of their personal information being stolen. But as these platforms evolved, so have we. We’ve strayed away from posting anonymously and veered towards sharing more information online.
With this evolution, we’ve all probably posted something we’d later come to regret. It might be an embarrassing photo, inappropriate comment, or even a silly status update. Everyone has that one post that makes them cringe whenever the dreaded “on this day” reminder comes up on Facebook.
So… What’s yours? Do you even know? Have you ever taken the time to go through your social media profiles and delete photos and posts that don’t represent who you are anymore? It’s important to do a thorough social media clean every couple of years to ensure there are no harmful or even just embarrassing posts that could impact your future.
Not sure where to start? We’ve put together a few things to check and do during your social media clean.
Delete questionable photos and posts.
First, do a quick scan of your social media profiles. Are there any posts that really stand out to you? Posts or photos where you would just DIE if a future employer or new crush were to see them? Those need to go! Now look for anything that could harm your personal brand. Do you want people to know you as the wild party person or a respectable professional? Everything on your profile builds towards your personal brand.
Remember, first impressions are made online.
| Read More: Why Your Personal Brand Matters
Delete or archive anything that you wouldn’t want others to see. Sometimes it’s hard to let go of memories, but not everyone needs to know about the huge rager you attended back in college. Save the photos and screenshot the posts to your personal computer if you want a laugh later, but get them off your social media!
Deactivate old accounts
This might take a moment but think hard, are there any old social media profiles of yours still floating around the internet? Perhaps an old Twitter account? Facebook? YouTube? Any millennials out there? You just know your awkward phase has been perfectly preserved on that MySpace account you’ve forgotten about. You might want to revisit them yourself for nostalgia’s sake but it’s time to get rid of them.
You’re probably thinking, ‘I haven’t posted to those accounts in forever. Why should it matter?’ Well, exactly, let us ask you this, why would you want to keep those accounts around if they don’t accurately reflect who you are anymore? Things on the internet can easily resurface, so be proactive and remove them now to avoid the embarrassment.
Check who you are following
Have you looked at who you follow and like on social media lately? It’s so easy to follow countless users on social media in the spur of the moment. But do you even care about what they post anymore or are they just hanging around? Maybe it’s time to unfollow the users who you don’t really care about anymore. This cleans up your feed and leaves a more positive look and a better understanding of your interests and likes.
Change your privacy settings
The simplest and easiest thing to do is to switch your account to private. This will allow only people you accept to follow you and see the things you post. Alternatively, you might get tagged in a lot of photos with people you hang out with, and you can’t stop them from tagging you but you can do something about showing up on your feed.
By changing your privacy settings to ensure that you have to approve all posts that you’re tagged in they won’t show up on your feed without your review first. This will help regulate any inappropriate content that may be posted about you, but can also help you to prevent some embarrassing photos your parents or Aunt Lisa might share.
If going through all your accounts feels tedious and time consuming, LifeBrand can help you clean up your social media in a fraction of the time. If you’ve been on the internet since the early 2000s, there’s bound to be something posted that you’re no longer proud of. It’s time for it to go! Get your free social media scan to clean up your profile and delete any inappropriate posts.