It’s time to find a cure for those pesky, annoying Social Media sicknesses.

You know what I’m talking about. Overwhelming self-promotion. TMI. A tendency towards doom and gloom. No one is talking to you and you can’t figure out why.

Well, there’s a reason. Chances are, your Social Media personality is infected by a sickness that’s put you in a quarantine and made others run from you with their fingers in the form of an ‘X.’

Social Media is about being interesting, compelling, forward-thinking, and open-minded. Most importantly, it’s about being yourself. There’s a vast pool of knowledge and insight for you to dive into and be apart of. But if you’re unwilling to actively contribute to the cause, you’ll inevitably become diseased and cut-off by the majority of the Social Media universe.

Here is a list of 12 common Social Media plagues and how to cure them:

• PLAGUE: No One Will Follow Me On Twitter
• REMEDY: Prove yourself! Be more interesting, provide useful, relevant content related to your particular area of interest, ask questions, engage in conversations, ReTweet posts you find interesting. I know many people who will look at a Twitter profile and if they don’t see that person engaging with others, they unfollow immediately. This is an easy one. Get in there and be social.

• PLAGUE: No One Reads My Blog
• REMEDY: Re-evaluate your material and ask yourself whether it’s content people other than your mom will rave about. The same-old-same-old will not captivate your audience. Grab their attention with an interesting title and keep them reading by knocking their socks off with incredible content.

• PLAGUE: No One Is Answering My Offer
• REMEDY: Ugh…where do I begin? First of all, STOP SPAMMING! Your primary goal for being on Social Media is not to sell-sell-sell. it’s to build-build-build…relationships and rapport. Throwing an offer in someone’s face without first establishing a level of trust is 100% unattractive and will get you nowhere. Don’t make an offer to sell something until you’ve built a level of rapport and it relates to the person you’re speaking to.
  

• PLAGUE: No One Will Answer My Auto-DM on Twitter
• REMEDY: You want to know why? Because Auto-DMs S-U-C-K! Stop using them, STAT. It’s ridiculously easy to spot an Auto-DM and makes you look like you have no regard for the human element that makes Twitter a great network. It tells someone you only want to drive traffic and gives the impression you have no real intention of building a relationship. Even simple messages like, “Yes, this is an automated message. Look forward to tweeting with you” don’t serve much purpose, other than being LESS annoying than a typical spam DM.

• PLAGUE: No One is Commenting On My Status Updates
• REMEDY: What are you updating about? Are you providing something meaningful or are you bitching because it’s not Friday yet? Most people will shy away from doom-and-gloom. So if your M.O. is to lean towards the “dark side,” don’t expect a lot of attention.

• PLAGUE: I’m Getting A Lot of People Unfollowing and Unfriending Me
• REMEDY: Again, pay attention to what you’re posting. Is it valuable and relevant or completely useless, spammy, and/or self-absorbed? It’s important to consider your audience and what they’re after. Also, lack of consistency and not posting on a routine basis will lead others to believe you’re not truly “into it,” thus…they’ll unfollow and unfriend.

• PLAGUE: No One Is Answering My Posts on MySpace
• REMEDY: Join the rest of the world and stop using MySpace

• PLAGUE: My Friends Are Getting Annoyed With My Foursquare Posts
• REMEDY: This is an easy one: Don’t check-in every time you move 10 feet. Instead, use Foursquare to seek out excellent venues and share them with your friends. Location-based social networking isn’t necessarily about telling people where you’re at all the time (although it’s a great way to meet up with people in the area), but about spreading the word on a great discovery you made, be it a discount, great dish, or exceptional customer service.

• PLAGUE: Social Media Takes Too Much of My Time
• REMEDY: Don’t become a slave to it. You don’t have to sit in front of Twitter 24 hours a day to make it effective. Same with Facebook. Allot yourself a couple hours in the slower parts of your day to schedule some tweets using TweetDeck or Hootsuite, check out what your friends are talking about, and do some conversing. If you want to implement Social Media into your business but lack the time, hire a Social Media Manager or outside firm/consultant to get you pointed in the right direction.

• PLAGUE: No One Will Watch My YouTube Video
• REMEDY: Again, focus on what you’re putting out there. The content of your video has to be something worth watching. EXAMPLE: The Chatroulette Last Exorcism Reaction Video got 1.6 MILLION views in less than a week! Obviously, this was something people wanted to see. Also, just as important, are you tagging your video with the right keywords? Does your video title contain your keyword phrase? These items will also help your cause as more people will be able to find it when they search Google, YouTube, etc.

• PLAGUE: I Can’t Keep Up With All the Tweets!
• REMEDY: This plague is quite common, especially when you have thousands of people you follow. You can utilize TweetDeck and set up columns for the Tweeters you want to follow closest. Personally, I’m a fan of Twitter Lists. This allows you to customize a group of those you want to keep tabs on the closest. Also makes conversing and ReTweeting much more efficient.

• PLAGUE: Social Media is a Complete Waste of Time
• REMEDY: Yes, I get it…there are detractors out there. But, just like anything in life, don’t knock it ’til you try it. There’s a world of value to wrap your hands around, and the Social Mediasphere is the new frontier. Certain elements of Social Media can certainly help you fritter the hours away. But those elements are superseded by the ones that help you grow, both as an individual and in your area of business.

What other Social Media plagues have you come across and what’s your remedy? Please share your Comments below!

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