Tweet… Share… Tweet… Share

Twitter and Facebook are the world’s most popular social networking sites. Why am I telling you something that you already know? It’s because they are more than just platforms to brag to your friends (yes don’t pretend like you do not) or follow the most popular celebrity.

When news breaks out, Twitters users are the first people to know and start retweeting to their friends. It’s a fast, convenient message 140 characters (take that Zuckerberg). While Facebook is more laid back with no character limitation, it’s were “friends” upload pictures, share a status and connect with old friends in a matter of seconds.

While things have become considerably easier because of our digital lives, it’s not all sunlight and roses when it comes to the world of social networks.

Users as are commonly known for both social platforms have the prerogative to post whatever they feel like on the internet. Pictures, status, posts, links, tweets and opinions are just some of the things we do on social networks.

Problem with the internet is that once you put things there, it’s almost impossible to forget or remove. This is why we have to be extra careful about what we post on the internet. Some of these challenges include:

Bad grammar: I don’t know about you bad most of my Facebook “friends” have difficulty differentiating between loose and lose. “I do not want to LOOSE my love” or “my laces are LOSE” are some of the horrendous mistakes people make.

When you correct someone its either you an ass or you think you are better than everyone else. Twitter and Facebook maybe for social activity but prospective employers are now on these sites. Nobody wants to hire someone who doesn’t know the difference between lose and loose. My advice, read more and make spell check your best friend. After misspelling gullible as gallable on my tweet, I now triple check what I post (thanks @sinovuyo).

Cryptic status and tweets: this is equivalent to putting a sign on your forehand which reads: “I am an attention seeker.”  If you want to say something say it, don’t tease its irritating not interesting. If you don’t want to then shut up nobody is forcing you to say anything. These include, “I can’t believe I just did that” or “is this really happening to me.” What follows is a furore of questions as inquisitive friends probe their friend of what they mean falling for the attention trap.

Know what you talking about: just because you have a twitter and facebook account does not mean we want to hear what you have to say (looking at you Kim Kardeshian). While there is pressure to sound intelligent on social networks refrain from commenting if you know nothing about a certain topic. You will sound dumb, people will crucify you (why do you think people retweet) and you will appear as a bigger idiot than Steve Hofmeyer and Todd Akin combined (thats saying something).

And finally nobody cares what you had for supper, which gym you attend, how much you love your better half or how often you visited the toilet. Tell that to people who want to hear it (I certainly don’t).

Social networks are about socialising, keeping up to date about what is happening around the world and generating interest. So in future before you tweet or share think very carefully about what you want to say…