Repost Without Reading: Are You the Unaware Sharer?

I know you're busy...

Maybe you're one of the "lucky" ones who got to keep their job after the recession hit and now get the "privilege" of also doing the work of the three others in your department who are no longer there? Or maybe you're the new hire getting paid peanuts - no I mean actual peanuts and other snacks that corporate has replaced in lieu of monetary rewards. Or maybe like me you do all things marketing because, well, no one else will do it? Regardless, not being able to see over the piles of files on your desk is not just cause for sharing, forwarding, liking, and tweeting, articles, emails, blogs, tweets, and posts that you haven't actually read.

Everyone has a Top Sharing Offender in their lives. A friend, parent, acquaintance, or boss who needs to attend Repost Anonymous meetings ASAP.  But most of us are guilty of the occasional unaware share. I just did it today when I forwarded an article to my Harry Potter fanatic kid. Something about a rap, or a new book, - I don't know, let her read it. She'll enjoy it...I think. 

But as business professionals in a new economy, we are under additional pressure to increase brand awareness in addition to everything else we do. No longer good enough to just do our job, we need to stay uber informed, and crow about everything because we are told by the marketing person (Yep. Guilty again as charged, your honor) that it helps foster our career, our brand, and/or our company's visibility in the marketplace.

But in our haste to remain "topical, thought-leading, influencers" (whatever that really means), we immerse ourselves in the social media ointment at times without forethought and decide by the headline alone. We shove information at each other like medicine down a sick dog's throat. We share for the sake of sharing rather than because it struck a chord and should be shared. "They Can Always Just Delete It" is the accepted mantra because, after all, it doesn't cost us anything, right? Not exactly. We are faced with a new SPAM that's an informational junk mail, but unlike the SPAM blocker that weeds out these frivolities, it takes our time and judgment to make these decisions.

Despite the irony, I bet you're tempted to plaster this article on the page, feed, email box, (and maybe on the forehead of ?) "that" friend/acquaintance/boss who doesn't seem to get the message that you don't want the message. Go right ahead, you should. Chances are you're reading this because an editor who read it thought it would be of interest to you or maybe you've enjoyed reading my other articles. In either case, it was more likely through decision not chance. I'm not calling for a moratorium on reposting. I'm simply suggesting more forethought on what should and should not be shared by reading the article and not the headline before posting and forwarding. I know...we're too busy.

If you do decide to distribute this article, include the #IReadThisBeforeRepostingIt so everyone will know that you did.

Follow Frank Bocchino, is a Los Angeles-based writer, designer, and digital marketer who helps   organizations create qualified strategies that generate new business using the latest tools for lead generation, SEO, and social media.

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