20 types of content you don't realise you're sharing

©Robert Churchill via 123RF

The truth is that everything we do online reveals us. The rule of thumb is to act online the way you would act in real life. Imagine that you are literally standing in front of friends, family, co-workers, and strangers and then consider if you would still share the content.

Content is anything that others can find out about you online, and includes:

1. Private emails
2. Professional emails
3. Your website
4. Your blog
5. Your blog posts
6. Your grammar, spelling, and punctuation
7. Your about page, your contact page, your services page
8. Your profile pictures on private and professional platforms
9. Your 'about you' descriptions on every social media platform
10. Your backgrounds on social media
11. Your themes on social media
12. Your photographs on social media
13. Your shared quotations, images, and cartoons on social media
14. Your shared articles and links on social media
15. Your reviews of anything
16. Social media updates, including personal Facebook statuses, tweets on Twitter, pins on Pinterest,LinkedIn updates, Instagram pictures and videos, YouTube videos, Google+ posts, Tumblr posts
17. Responses or lack of responses on social media platforms
18. Infographics you create
19. Your services and products, including courses, ebooks, webinars
20. The brands and people you follow

You are your content

So think carefully before you post that crazed political rant, dubious link, unintelligible update, drunken photograph, selfie #923, super-religious quotation, anti-religious ecard, or that unflattering comment about your co-workers, company, friends, or family. If that is how you really want to be perceived, go ahead, but please check your spelling and grammar before you do. If you do care about how others perceive you, don't post it.

If you want to learn how to blog and write for social media, join The Social Brand, our social media workshop.