The Many Ways You Could Be Socially Sabotaging Yourself and Your Business [INFOGRAPHIC]

by Christina Yeager

Whether it's simply to update a status on Facebook about your weekend or scheduling a post for the upcoming event for your business, social sabotage can strike at any time.

It's important to know exactly what to avoid to keep from alienating yourself from friends, family, co-workers, your boss and even your small business customers.
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Social Sabotage can damage your reputation. Guard yourself and your business!

No one is immune to the sting of socially embarrassing themselves or stating an opinion and having others attack with disagreement.

Large corporations, celebrities, fast food chains and even your very own family members have at one time or another posted something sketchy, fake or have blasted something or someone.

In order to avoid tumbling down the virtual rabbit hole, here's what you shouldn't do:

1. Don't share stories that may be potentially be a hoax from unreliable sites. Always check facts before posting. Google.
2. Trendjacking and jumping onto the challenge bandwagon can damaging to your reputation if you don't understand the trend. Research first.
3. Calling someone out for a bad review or negative comments doesn't look good on a business. In return, neither does slamming a business. Try customer support.
4. Pay attention to your surroundings, don't post incriminating party photos and never upload anything if you've called in sick. Be smart. 
5. We all have opinions, that doesn't mean everyone shares yours. Keep them to yourself or learn to write about them in a more acceptable way. This is troll bait.
6. Speaking of trolls...they're everywhere social. Learn to ignore, avoid confrontation and never engage. That's exactly what they want. Don't feed the troll.
7. Friends of friends can see your posts, sometimes everyone can (if you don't care about your privacy) and updating your status with rants about your job could be dangerous. Someone WILL see or tell.
8. Your business is NO place to post personal opinions and agendas. Avoid political, religious and otherwise tacky humor. You can undo a business a lot quicker than you built one.
9. Arguments don't belong in social media. If you have something to say to someone, say it to their face. Even private messaging isn't safe. 
10. Stop spamming scams. This falls back to the "hoax posts" and every time you click it, it's gathering information about you. Be safe, don't click, don't share.

View this handy infographic for more tips to skirt around making mistakes on social media!