Why are you on social media? 

Getting new customers is an obvious answer. But what about when you know a sale is not near? 

For me, the answer is to learn something new, be entertained, or be challenged to grow more as a person ultimately. That’s why I go on LinkedIn.

Whether commenting on someone’s post or having others comment on mine, the goal is to improve me and my ideas.

But I’ve realized that not all see it as this personal growth engine. Some see it simply as a broadcast tool; I use it when I have something to announce or share.

Not only is that a poor way to generate sales, but it’s also disingenuous to your audience. And it eliminates your ability to grow your ideas through public discourse.

A few weeks back, I ran into this problem. Someone put out a silly post about how they wake up at 3-6 to make cold calls. They positioned it as a superior approach because they were calling when their competition was sleeping.

First, anyone who fixates on competition has already lost.

Second, there is no one way to do anything.

Third, this idea is vastly underdeveloped.

Comment after comment suggested how flawed this idea was (e.g., What if I live in Europe? What if I did my cold calls from 12-3 while you were sleeping?)

This person dodged all contrarian replies by responding with short responses (e.g., “cool with me”). This upset me as I thought we all were on LinkedIn trying to improve ourselves and ideas, and this idea clearly needed help.

Sadly, this person could not show he cared about my thoughtful response, which resulted in an unfollow.

I’m not going to be your cheerleader. Instead, I’m going to challenge you to improve your ideas leading to improving yourself.

And if that’s too much for you, then we’re better off not connected.

Social media is built for thoughtful and kind social discourse. If you’re looking for a broadcast tool, go blog on Medium or Substack.

Here’s my unfiltered response to the person’s “cool with me” response to my original push back: 

(Sorry for the passive aggression in that comment. I was a little hungry and tired when I responded; I clearly will avoid that in the future. 🤦🏼‍♂️)

Marketeer Insights ⚔️

This is not a diss to the person in the image above. Instead, I’m sharing this to reveal the silliness and to help you avoid making a similar mistake.

What is your main reason for using social media?

🧠 + ❤️ // JO