We all enjoy seeing people like our Instagram pictures, like our Facebook pictures and posts, and favourite our tweets. The problem with these tokens of affirmation is that often, whether we’ve acknowledged it or not, we base our self esteem on these “vanity metrics”.  Once we’ve achieved that “100 like picture” or hit 10 favourites on a tweet, we don’t walk away with confidence and look for different ways of getting better that are actually productive. We look for new ways to do the same thing because, as far as we’re concerned, we’re only as good as our last post. We don’t get better; we simply work to improve the way others see us for the sake of our ego.

This phenomenon of improper focus can be extremely damaging for businesses. Those who pour their energy into stacking up Facebook likes  and Twitter followers are often missing the point. Time spent acquiring these things which, more often than not, have little to no bearing on overall health of an organization, takes away from measuring appropriately.

Did taking five different pictures of the same thing before spending 15 minutes editing and choosing the right filter in hopes of 50+ likes take away from quality time spent building relationships with the people around you? And did celebrating your company page’s 500th Facebook like take time that could have been better spent following up with a recent customer or measuring actual conversions?

Social media can enhance your life and business relationships if used properly and with a purpose. Don’t get caught spinning your wheels.