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What’s Your Social Media Personality?

First of all, a clarification… By “social media” here, I
mean “Facebook.”  That’s because, as I’ve
said many times, it’s the social media platform for the “Everyman and
Everywoman.” With over 1.1 billion (yes, billion) users, Facebook is fairly
ubiquitous.  Along with that kind of
omnipresence, comes the fact that you have both the initiated and the uninitiated
user making his/her her way through there, leading to a wide, but fairly
predictable range of “personalities” one will see in his/her newsfeed at any
given moment (certainly dependent on the choice of Facebook friends).       

To be fair, personality differences are evident on the other
social media platforms as well. It’s just that they, by design, are more subtle.
Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, and Instagram are the platforms I’m addressing. They tend to
be populated by the more erudite and sophisticated social media users who are
more likely to adhere to the social “norms” on these sites. That leads to a
narrower band of personality deviation as their users stay “inside the lines,”
or risk being branded as plebian and unknowledgeable.  To a lot of Google + users, Facebook is the
“Land of the Unwashed Masses.” To that end, because the typical “Facebooker”
isn’t into the vagaries of social media propriety and boundaries, that
personalities are more evident – the main reason many Google +’ers abandon
Facebook altogether.    

So, without further fanfare, these are the predominant distinct
personalities I’ve seen, witnessed, and engaged on Facebook (social media). This
list is NOT all-inclusive. Note that I am NOT judging any of these or saying
what’s good or what’s bad. They just ARE :
The Life Chronicaler – The person who tells you what they’re
doing at any given time, what they didn’t or can’t do because of the weather, a
backache, or because they’re tired. They will also tell everyone “goodnight”
before retiring.
The Comedian – The person who’s always quick with a joke. They
have a retort, a funny witticism, a funny video.
The “Hey, I’m Just Here To Keep Up with My Friends and Family” – This is the official “Facebook Fall-Back Position. After all, that IS why we’re there, right? 
The Spammer – The person who makes you think their account’s
been hacked because there’s always an ad for purses, athletic shoes, or some
other item. Note: these are usually bots or phony accounts.

The Cam Girl – Usually from
another country, they friend mostly guys and other Can Girls. They post
suggestive or downright explicit pictures and try to get these men to go to
their sites and “vote” for them.
The Network Marketer – They are the go-to for a particular
product. Their walls are replete with pictures of them winning awards, at
seminars, before-afters of people, posts telling you how you can supplement
your income, and invitations to seminars and meetings.         
The Business – This is the account known as the name of the
business only and interacts as if it’s a “person” with its friends. A select
group of “insiders” know the true identity of the account-holder.
The Politico – This person posts incessantly about partisan
politics. Need I say more?
   
The Bon Vivant – The partier… Pictures abound of the latest
party or event they went to. Several posts appear on their wall of people
telling them what a good t time they all had at the latest soirée.
The Traveler – From Amsterdam
to Moscow… Back
to NYC, then across to Honolulu.
They take you with them virtually with great stories and stunning pics.

The
Social Media/Business Conglomerate
– They have LOTS of Facebook friends,
Twitter followers, Google +, and LinkedIn connections, and are all over all the
other platforms. Their posts are aimed at THE WORLD, and are of general nature,
with little personal information given out.

Not
many of us are exclusively one personality. We sometimes exhibit facets of other
of these listed above. One does predominate, however. 


Where do you fit? Are
there any others you’ve seen?

 That’s
the point!
   – Tony

You Are What You Choose

You Are What You Choose

Choices…  We have them, we make them, we live by them, we die by them. The right one can have as impactful a consequence as a bad one. Needless to say, the ability to make the best one at the right time can determine success or ensure failure. Every day, as I see my two… Continue Reading

On Turning 55…

On Turning 55…

Yep, that’s me. I’m 55 years old today. By the time you read this, I’ll be 55 and two or more days though, because I sit with my writing partner Michelle Andres, of The Art of the Well Lived Life, on Wednesdays and we write our blogs together. Michelle’s is called “The Art of the… Continue Reading

The Fallacy of Social Media ROI

The Fallacy of Social Media ROI

Return on investment, getting one’s money worth, making it “worth it.” We seldom do things with absolutely no thought of a benefit for ourselves, either immediately or somewhere down the road.  Not only does this hold true for us in our personal lives,  it’s ESPECIALLY true in world of business where EVERYTHING is measured in… Continue Reading

Where Has All the Civility Gone?

Where Has All the Civility Gone?

We’ve all been cursed with “earwigs” from time to time. What’s an earwig? An earwig, or a “tune wedgie” as my friend Martha Glunt puts it, is a musical tune that sticks in your head that you can’t get rid of. It tunnels its way into your ear and burrows itself into your brain. Think… Continue Reading

Just Shut Up and Get It Done

I saw a post someone “put” (spelled s-p-a-m-m-e-d) onto my Facebook wall last week. It was encouraging me to click on a link and see how some doctor would show me how to take the “Law of Attraction” even farther by showing me techniques to actually implement it.  Just for funsies, I clicked on it.… Continue Reading

The Price of Words

The Price of Words

Missouri. The “Show Me State.” Words. Better, it’s a nice, catchy state slogan like the 49 other (at least mostly) catchy state slogans. That was until I met my first “real” (meaning non-military) boss, Kevin Fowler. Even better was that Kevin Fowler is from this very same “Show Me State.” Who better, then, to actually… Continue Reading

Rearranging the Sweater Shelf

Rearranging the Sweater Shelf

Well, it’s that time again. You’re hearing everyone talk about spring cleaning. “I need to do this,” “I need to do that” statements abound. For me, the heralding of springtime typically means two things: clean out the garage, and clean out, refold, and rearrange the shelf of sweaters in my closet. I live in Northern… Continue Reading