Do we forget about people who aren’t active on social media?

We were discussing the other day in the office how we often forget that people “exist” because they are not active on social media. If we bump into someone on the street, or they post their first post in months, we tend to go, Oh! You! Where have you been? 

It is almost admirable when we see these people who aren’t as active on Instagram or Facebook. How do these people do it? How do they not share day-to-day updates about their life? We talk about oversharing all the time, and despite acknowledging its ramifications, we still think it’s strange when someone doesn’t share. An interesting contradiction, no? 

The ambiguity between over and under sharing is even more debatable now in the influencer and blogger era. Bloggers who journal their life are expected to overshare, with one post a day considered acceptable by most followers. In comparison, daily posting would be too much for a regular account. 

Why do we feel the need to share our life events immediately? Few rarely let the milestone sink in and absorb the happiness. Here’s my newborn—how adorable is he!? or We’re engaged!!! Look at my ring!! There is an expectation that either people want this information or there is a pressure that we have to produce this content as it happens. The reality is that people will find out. The most important people in your life will make the effort to see you, speak to you and celebrate with you.

Now that most social media channels have adopted the Stories function, we can share instant updates that we deem unsuitable for a feed post. We are more likely to capture several segments across an event or over a whole day, but frequency for most users on their feed is significantly less.

So, what happens when businesses overshare? For some, seeing too many posts from a company that you follow would feel similar to email marketing. Being pestered with content can be irritating and earn an unfollow or unsubscribe. Business accounts should be used somewhere between sparingly and informatively. Share what’s new, what’s been achieved and what you can do, but posting about trivial events from the day will bore followers.

The simplest way to act on oversharing on social media is this: post highlights, not details. While we can be idealistic about doing this, it’s manageable. Ask yourself: why am I posting this? Why do my followers need to know this now, if at all?