Fears, we all have them, some greater, some smaller but they are there, deep, hidden in the layers of our consciousness. It is important to take time to conduct some honest, internal reflection to identify any fears that we may be holding. This is an essential exercise to conduct when:

• Creating a digital marketing campaign
• Evaluating a completed digital marketing campaign
• Performing a regular audit of social media campaigns

This is one of the first conversations that we have with our clients. Knowing what some of their fears (no matter how deep rooted) are, will allow us to better understand our clients actions and inaction around their engagement on social media. Once we have identified the fears, we can then set boundaries, if necessary, in the digital marketing program that we create. If a potential fear stands as an obstacle to our clients digital marketing plans, having knowledge of the fears will allow us to work closely with them to work through the fears in order to achieve the long-term goals.

The Bicycle

For most of us we have fond memories of learning to ride the bicycle as a kid. Maybe you started with a tricycle or 3-wheeler (Big Wheel), then you progressed to your first real bike with training wheels. Once you were confident of balancing on the bike, knowing that the training wheels would keep you upright, you learned to speed up, slow down, take corners and eventually all the fears fell away. You are now ready to take the training wheels off and get riding on your own like the big kids. Then, just then, reality sets in, that you are in control, and fear begins to set in. The bike no longer balances itself anymore, you have to do it. It gets wobbly when you slow down, and you have to steady it. Maybe in this time you fell off the bike, creating deeper set fears of biking. Either way, you had to adjust for these fears, so that you could overcome them in order to learn to ride the bike.

Self-Evaluate Regularly

It is very important to self-evaluate yourself when it comes to social media. Here are the key steps to help you get the most out of it:

• Honesty: You need to be honest with yourself in this process. The more honest, the more intimate you can get with your feelings the better served you will be.
• Observe: Stay aware of your mood, decisions, and thoughts when you are on social media. Take note of things that:
  • Upset you
  • Move you to action or inaction
  • Inspires you

What content do you spend the most time on and why? If you could change something, what would it be?

• Visualize: When you are on social media observing the posts in your feed begin to ask yourself some questions:
  • Would I be comfortable making this content?
  • Am I comfortable with the message, delivery, and format being used?

If you have answered no, you need to follow up with why you answered no. What is it that is bothering you or holding you back? If you answer no to any of the questions due to your lack of technical skills, then those are skills you need to dig into and add to your skillset. Don’t let your lack of skill hold you back.

With this information you can better understand yourself and possibly begin to identify some of the common fears about social media. We are going to outline the 7 most common fears to help educate you on them to better recognize them and know how to deal with them.

7 Most Common Fears Of Social Media

Before we begin, please note that we are only providing an overview of these fears. These are no exhaustive outlines of all the details of each fear, but they will help to give you some clues so that you can then find additional resources to help you further.

1 – Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO)

• • This is the fear of being excluded from events, experiences, or successes that other are seen participating in on social media.
  • This fear can lead to fears of inadequacy or anxiety in not measuring up to others. If these feelings take root they can lead to the onset of imposter syndrome.

Imposter Syndrome

According to the Oxford Dictionary, imposter syndrome is the inability to believe that one’s success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved because of one’s own efforts or skills.

Note: If you are looking for more information, resources, or help with Imposter Syndrome, be sure to follow one of the leading experts on Imposter Syndrome Jule Kim. Be sure to give her a follow on social media or sign up for her newsletters. You can find her website here. 

2 – Fear Of Judgment Or Rejection

• • There is a fear of being judged, rejected or even ignored (through little to no likes on a post) based on what one posts. When this fear takes root a self censorship or outright avoidance of posting takes place.

3 – Fear Of Cyberbullying

• • Both bullying and harassment are prevalent on social media, which can lead to a fear of being targeted which leads to anxiety and stress.
  • These can take the form of rude or mean comments, spreading of rumours, false allegations or even sharing of embarrassing photos or videos.

4 – Fear Of Privacy Invasion

This is a concern about privacy breaches, data misuse or fear of personal photos being used for malicious purposes.

5 – Fear Of Addiction

• • This is the fear of not being able to disconnect from devices or constantly checking for updates, emails, or notifications.
  • There is also an underlying fear of a loss of control over one’s time and attention.

6 – Fear Of Comparison

• • This occurs commonly on social media when comparing to others on social media. This can lead to feelings of inadequacy or jealousy.
  • This constant comparison to others can lead to negative self esteem and mental well being.

7 – Fear Of False Information

• • This is a fear and distrust of the information presented on social media. This can take root from the use of incorrect information to one’s detriment.
  • This leads to a distrust in online content and sources of information.

When It Comes To Social Media Don’t Forget

Now that you have more information about the common fears on social media, it is important to implement some healthy habits and use them on a regular basis. Don’t forget that when you are on social media:

• You cannot please everyone all the time – so don’t try to.
• Don’t try to please the masses by changing your beliefs, messaging, or values – doing so will drown out your authentic voice.
• It’s okay to disagree (in a respectful manner) because that’s the authentic you.

4 Habits You Can Implement Today

1 – Review your content mission statement

• Knowing what your content mission statement is before going online will help to keep you focused on what matters to you and the difference that you are trying to make.

2 – Write gratitude comments

• Make a point of finding a set number of posts, people, companies that you have interacted with in your day to day, find them online and leave a comment of why you are grateful for what they did for you.

3 – Thank others

• Make a point of finding a set number of posts, people, companies that you have interacted with in your day to day, online and leave a thank you for what they did for you no matter how small. (You can even take this a step further and send out a physical thank you card).

4 – Leave a positive comment

• Find a set number of posts to leave a positive comment about their post.

In your social media journey, it is important to remind ourselves about some basic statistics. Although no platform has published the statistics on the percentage of users on a platform that interact and leave comments, let’s use a high-end percentage for illustration purposes. Let’s assume that 10% (which is very high) of users comment and interact on posts, don’t forget that means you will never hear from 90% of them. However, if you are not hearing from anyone, it doesn’t mean no one is listening!

Never forget that people will interact with your posts because of the content BUT they stay on your profile and come back because of YOU! SO BE YOU!