Even some of the busiest people we know somehow find time to update us often. Experts have warned against the harmful effects of oversharing. The costs of oversharing. A majority of the estimated 80 percent of small-business owners using Facebook are posting every day. Trying to maintain a separation between personal and business is fruitless. Friends read your business posts and clients follow your personal posts, which means your business brand is your personal brand. There are many risks you take when you overshare on social media, beginning with the risk of cheapening your brand. Sharing unimportant content suggests you don’t value your reader's time. Third, you risk your time and energy explaining or defending the information in your post. Friends and clients can also be turned off when they read one more update about your morning workout.
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Pre-internet, the extent to which we knew about each other was the extent to which we volunteered information about ourselves. We generally kept our business to ourselves, and we were happy in our ignorance. We had a work life and, at the end of a long day, we went home to a personal life.
Today we’re exposed to abundant details about our friends and family, including hundreds or thousands of “friends” we don’t even know. It’s the largest personal soapbox the world has ever known and we welcome anyone who’ll listen. We snap selfies over breakfast, film ourselves feeding the dog and host live videos on our way to the mailbox, trying to satisfy an insatiable appetite for sharing every moment with anyone who will listen. Even some of the busiest people we know somehow find time to update us often.
Unfortunately, this environment has created a need for digital detoxes, social media addiction therapy and other conditions. Experts have warned against the harmful effects of oversharing. Think you are exempt? Consider this: Mixed in with your hundreds of connections, followers and friends, how many are clients or prospective clients? The extent of our attention to privacy settings is often little more than the “I agree” button at the end of the 78-page legal document.
The costs of oversharing.
A majority of the estimated 80 percent of small-business owners using Facebook are posting every day. According to CareerBuilder, “70 percent of employers use social media to screen candidates” prior to hiring. It’s wise to assume potential clients are exercising the same due diligence when they consider doing business with you.
Trying to maintain a separation between personal and business is fruitless. Social media has connected us all to each other. Friends read your business posts and clients follow your personal posts, which means your business brand is your personal brand. It’s what you signed up for when you became an entrepreneur.
As you post, you should assume that every bit of information you put out adds to, or takes from, the value of your personal brand. The temptation is in volunteering too much information. Nobody wants to know about your ingrown toenail.
There are many risks you take when you overshare on social media, beginning with the risk of cheapening your brand.
Sharing unimportant content suggests you don’t…
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