Let’s be honest. There are more than enough social media platforms out there. So, unless you’re a content creator, you shouldn’t worry about committing to all major platforms.
With so many platforms out there to choose from, one can easily get confused about which ones they should be using and which ones they shouldn’t. If you’re someone who only uses social media to talk to their family and friends or get updates on things they follow, then just use the platforms you need.
However, if you’re a content creator or a business, aim to interact with your audience and try to use some of the popular social media platforms.
If you’re someone who streams or makes content on YouTube, other feed-based social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and X can be a great way to interact with your audience. You should also aim to stream on as many platforms as you can.
YouTube, FaceBook Live, Instagram Live, Twitch, and Kick.com are some great options you should aim to stream on.
Now that we’ve set the stage, let’s get into why social media is a double-edged sword and whether or not you should use all major social media platforms.
The Allure of Social Media
From sending letters strapped to pigeons to simply pressing a colorful send button, connecting with people has become easier than ever because of social media and the internet.
With modern internet and technology, you can always stay connected with others, whether it’s your friends or family, or a stranger online. As time went on, this has become more accessible, since the barrier to entry has become very low.
Almost all social media platforms are free-to-use and ISPs like Xfinity Internet are fast, inexpensive options for today’s internet needs. This easy access to friends and family essentially fulfills our basic human need to connect with others, which can help improve our mental and physical state.
Not only can you connect with friends and family, but you can also discover new communities of like-minded people who share the same interests as you. Many businesses use their social media presence to gain interest in their brand as well as sell their products online.
However, this is a double-edged sword. While there are a lot of benefits to connecting with others, there are a lot of drawbacks as well.
People have started to replace in-person socializing with social networks. Because of this, a lot of interactions on social platforms feel more fake. Social media platforms are also designed to be addictive, which is why social media usage is now at an all-time high.
Not just this, time spent on social media has led to social anxiety, depression, cyberbullying, and exposure to content that may not be age-appropriate.
The Pitfalls of Social Media Platform Proliferation
With social media trend cycles changing overnight, there are a lot of issues you’re going to face if you use social media, whether as a business or personally.
Time Commitment and Burnout
If you’re someone who posts a lot on social media, you know how time-consuming it is. Some people end up spending hours creating content for a single post.
When you do this for too long, you might start to face social media burnout, which is a condition where some may experience mental and emotional exhaustion due to extended social media use. This may lead to a point where you may feel drained, overwhelmed, and disconnected.
Why does this happen?
The use of social media leads to the release of dopamine in the brain, which essentially helps you feel pleasure as a part of your brain’s “reward” system. However, an overload of dopamine can cause an imbalance which can lead to burnout.
Content Creation Overload
With social media feeds, we are bombarded with content, which often keeps us overwhelmed. This is why most people now feel like they are unable to keep up with the stream of content they see.
This content overload can be attributed to the explosion of content creation, which has contributed significantly to its rise. On top of that, it’s now easier to publish content online which can also put a lot of pressure on content creators to keep up.
Constantly being pressured to keep making content can be stressful for creators, which ends up leading to low-quality and spammy content. Instead, creators need to focus on providing value to their viewers and focus on creating quality content rather than focusing on quantity.
Maintaining Multiple Profiles
Whether you’re an influencer on Instagram or run a YouTube channel, there are chances that you have multiple profiles on social media. Some people like to have multiple profiles for the different types of groups they interact with, such as family and friends.
Most social media platforms allow their users to create multiple profiles. However, maintaining these profiles can be difficult. If you’re managing a business, this can be especially tough since it has the potential of diluting the brand’s voice as well as inconsistencies in branding.
The Pressure of Curated Perfection
As social media becomes more and more popular, there is now an abundance of information online. However, not all the content you find on popular social media sites is worth interacting with.
Not just that, when you’re creating a post on social media, you have to be careful about not making any mistakes since your post has the potential to be noticed by thousands of people.
Social media has become the breeding ground for showing off our best selves. That’s why you always see aesthetic pictures of travel destinations, meticulously decorated meals, and flawless physiques.
A constant exposure to this has set an impossibly high standard for the younger generation, which just isn’t attainable for the average Joe.
Finding Your Social Sweet Spot
Not all is doom and gloom in the world of social media. You can get a lot out of social media with the right mindset and strategy.
Identify Your Target Audience and Goals
Whether you’re just creating a social media journal of your daily life, or advertising your business, you should always keep your audience in mind and set specific goals.
To do this, know the kind of people who are going to see and interact with your posts. Try planning out posts that capture the attention of your target audience. Not only that, make sure they align with your goals.
If you’re looking to get consistent views on your posts, try staying in the same niche and making quality content. However, if you’re looking to attract a wider audience, try creating newer types of content that can resonate with a wider audience.
Analyzing Platform Demographics and Content Styles
Social media analytics can be your best friend when you want to understand how well your posts are doing.
This will help you understand your audience’s preferences and needs, which can help you create effective social media content. This will help you identify new opportunities for innovation and growth. In turn, this will help improve the return on investment on social media.
The social media platform of your choice might not be best suited for your brand’s voice and tone. Analytics will help you understand the content style you should have. Knowing your content style will help you choose the social media platform good for you.
Experiment with Multiple Platforms
Now that you understand your audience a little better, you can try out various other social media services to check which one works out for your brand voice. Also, testing out different social media platforms means you’re going to have a broader reach since people who use Instagram might not be using Facebook and vice versa.
After using multiple social media platforms, evaluate the engagement you get and the results from those interactions. This will help you figure out which social media platforms work for your brand and which don’t.
Managing Your Multi-Platform Presence
Now, we’ve established that using multiple social media platforms can be beneficial for you, especially if you are an influencer or a small business. So, let’s take a look at how you can manage your social media presence on multiple platforms.
- Tailor Your Content for Each Platform: Understand the characteristics of different platforms and create content for them accordingly. For example, you can show behind-the-scenes insights about your business on Instagram, while talking to your audience on Twitter.
- Use Platform-Specific Features: You can use features on different platforms, such as Instagram stories, TikTok challenges, and Twitter Polls to make interactive and engaging content that can resonate with the users on each platform.
- Cross-Post Content on Different Platforms: The best part about using multiple social media platforms is that you can cross-post content. For example, you can post your TikToks on Instagram as well. Just make sure to tweak your content in a way where it provides value to the user.
- Engage With Your Audience: Real-time interactions like live streams and Q&A sessions can be a great way to significantly boost your engagement on social media. Platforms like Facebook and Instagram have the option that lets you live stream.
- Collaborate With Other Creators: Collaborations can help you introduce your content to newer audiences. Try collaborating with people or businesses in the same niche as you to maximize your profile’s visibility as well as attract new followers.
- Focus on the Quality: Understandably, using multiple social media platforms can be a huge undertaking. However, this doesn’t mean that you should compromise on the quality. Quality always sells, so make sure you take your time creating a brilliant post that resonates with your audience.
In this social media age, a cross-platform presence is crucial for people looking to expand their following. Even if you don’t have a gigantic social media presence, it can still be beneficial to have multiple social media, since you can interact with your friends and family as well as meet people that share the same interests as you.
