In my last article, I described how to effectively delete social media accounts without losing data or contacts and without wanting to sign up again afterward (LINK). It’s obvious that my personal use of social media is limited, and I also recommend this to all readers of my blog. But instead of demonizing social media in general, I want to show you how to make the most out of your accounts without sacrificing your time or your personal data.
Conduct an inventory including the usefulness of your social media accounts for you
First, you should take inventory: Which social media channels do you actually use? Often, we are not aware of all our accounts, so a search for your name or pseudonym in search engines can help uncover hidden accounts. For example, I found out through this method that I was still findable on “Couchsurfing” with my name and some private information, nothing serious, but also nothing I wanted to be found about me on the internet. Consequently, this account was deleted immediately.
After your inventory is complete, you should record the value each account brings to you. One simple sentence is enough to describe this. For example:
- I use “LinkedIn” for networking with colleagues and business partners as well as for job searching. It also serves as a digital resume for me.
- With “Facebook” I keep up to date with my friends’ lives on an irregular basis.
- On “Pinterest” I collect images for various idea boards.
Check if you can substitute the account or if it is of a unique service for you
Next, you should consider whether you really want to keep all your accounts. Can you replace the benefit of one account with another service? If so, then you should consider deleting the unnecessary account. It is important to keep the number of your accounts manageable to avoid wasting time. Your substitution ideas could look like this:
- I could replace “Facebook” with “Instagram” since I can also connect with all my private contacts there and thus can also benefit from a less confusing user interface than with “Facebook”.
- “YouTube”: I don’t need an account to save my videos so that the algorithm learns more and tempts me to “binge” watch. Instead, I could subscribe to my channels via bookmarks in the browser and access these bookmarks when needed to watch videos. There are also free website monitoring services that I could use to stay informed about news.
- For “Pinterest” I could use another tool for creating boards that is cross-platform and doesn’t constantly bombard me with ads.
If you can’t think of anything to replace one of your social media accounts or if it would be too tedious for you to do without the account, it is a good sign that you should keep that account. I would recommend parking the accounts to be deleted for the time being and focusing first on the accounts you want to keep. Maybe in the end there are less than 5, which is a good ballpark figure. If it’s under 10 accounts, that’s also okay, but you should seriously check if you also benefit professionally from your accounts (such as promoting sales via “Instagram”, or building a user community on “Pinterest” for your blog…). However, if there are more than 10 accounts, you should really take another look to get below 10, otherwise there is a great risk that you will waste too much time on social media. Even as a professional, you should focus on just a few accounts, as you cannot focus on the opportunities and target groups of all platforms simultaneously and you may remain very superficial in terms of your social media presence if you don’t focus.
Secure your defaults and get the best value from your remaining social media accounts
After identifying your key accounts, you should delete all associated apps from your mobile devices to avoid distractions and make tracking by the providing platforms more difficult. This also ensures a more conscious handling of these media. And no, the messaging function on social media platforms is rarely necessary. Try instead using other messaging services outside of social media as much as possible. This increases both the value of your conversation and the security, as you can pay more attention to encryption of your messenger service and authenticity of contacts.
Then check the privacy settings of each account and limit the information you share publicly. Use strong passwords and activate two-factor authentication to increase security.
Now that your remaining accounts are secure, you should consider how to use them most effectively. Emphasize the purpose of each account and consider how often and when you want to interact with it. It is especially important when and how often you interact with one account and what purpose you pursue with it. For example, do I want to express my political views on “LinkedIn”? Or how often do I really need to login there to stay informed about my business contacts? You aim to increase the presence of your café using “Instagram”. Maybe you should then follow other interesting cafes and learn from them which actions and interactions are successful with potential new clients.
Also, abstain from thematically unrelated content to avoid confusing your followers. Do you really need to follow a channel about monster truck jams on “YouTube” if your own channel is about vegan cooking?
And remember: Sleep on a post idea for at least one night before publishing it to ensure quality and avoid impulsive reactions.
By following these steps, you can use your social media accounts productively without overwhelming yourself. Use the opportunities of the platforms to make the most of your online presence without giving away too much about yourself or wasting time.
Checklist:
- Create an inventory including the usefulness of your social media accounts for you
- Check if the accounts really offer you a unique service or if you can substitute some of the accounts
- If you want to keep more than 10 accounts, check again whether some of them can be replaced, aim for fewer than 5 accounts if possible
- Consider how you can use the remaining accounts most effectively (= serving your purpose), pay particular attention to the time you need to maintain one account
- Let at least one day pass between the idea of a post and the actual posting, this ensures the quality of your contributions and prevents you from posting reactively