5 social media mistakes to avoid in the New Year

Are you busy deciding on your New Year’s resolutions? If so, don’t forget to include a few for your social media practices.

Learn from some famous social media blunders of 2012 and resolve never to:

1. Take advantage of others’ misfortunes.

While social media is the perfect channel to voice concern in the wake of tragedy and hardship, it is not a time to use the events for promotional purposes.

Never use someone else’s misfortune in an attempt to increase your revenue. Tacky doesn’t even begin to describe this:

2. Ignore or delete customer service issues.

Your social media channels should serve as a platform for your community members to voice their opinions. If they have concerns, learn from them and respond quickly and honestly. This will prove to your followers that you genuinely listen to them, care about the issue, and are doing your best to resolve it.

If you are in the practice of deleting negative comments, go ahead and delete all your social media pages, because you’re missing the point of social media.

3. Use a hashtag without thinking about potential risks.