Another 54 Warning Signs That You Might Work In Social Media

A little over 6 months ago, I had to deliver some fairly bad social media news to our readers.

It was a personal struggle I needed to come clean with.

Only because I knew it could help so many of you as well.

But it did not work, I fear many of you have actually gotten worse.

Please put down the smart phone, tablet, and Nike Fuel Band. We need to confront this…

Many of you, reading this right now, are social media professionals.

Outside of suggesting the Amish lifestyle for you or detailing the step needed for moving to China, we want to try to help you. The best way we can do that, help each other through this somewhat embarrassing affliction, is to first get the diagnosis right.

Once we confront the truth, then we can talk about treatment.

So you might be asking yourself “This is horrible, how can I tell if I have it?”

These are a few of the warning signs we pulled together. Many of you helped crowdsource these symptoms. And we thank you for your important contributions.

You might work in social media if…

1. You have been addicted to Pinterest before, even if it was only for 3 days.
2. You had to explain to your family why Facebook was a great stock to buy.
3. You had to explain to your family why Facebook was a bad stock to buy.
4. You talk about the golden age of Twitter, when things were ‘better’ and there was ‘less noise.’
5. You might also have InstaStop syndrome, the main symptom being stopping in the middle of the sidewalk to take Instagram photos.
6. You complain to brands on Twitter and then scoff when they do not respond within 10 minutes.
7. You have typed the following words on Facebook “Like this post if you…”
8. You have attempted to define the term “social network.”
9. You log on to Twitter in the morning to simply say ‘Hi’ or ‘Good morning’ to your ‘friends.’
10. You applaud TV shows that “get it right” when trying to incorporate social media.
11. You have overly strong opinions about who else should or should not be working in social media.
12. You have noticed certain life events, like getting married, having kids, or getting a new job, are really good for your Edgerank.
13. You ask friends or family to repeat what they just said so you can quote them correctly on Twitter.
14. Your mortal enemy is that guy at Chipotle that keeps taking the Foursquare mayorship from you.
15. You avoid Twitter until you can get home before your friends ruin that show you have on DVR.
16. You assign Klout (+K) to your friends for embarrassing or random topics like Unicorns or Sugar Beets.
17. During normal conversation, you wish that you could press a ‘Like’ button instead of making the effort to actually respond. – Serena
18. It drives you crazy when you can’t find a like button or a Tweet button on a website.
19. You check Facebook in the bathroom. – Tammy G 
20. You think people in meetings should be limited to 140 characters per point. – Tammy G 
21. There are more than 10 people you have met in real life and still know only as their Twitter handle but you have no idea their real name.  – Tammy G 
22.  You have ever bragged about creating your first website, blog, or Twitter account before all the “regular” people signed up.
23.  When your child does something embarrassing and immediately asks you not to tweet it. – Jen Mitch
24.  When you get irritated that someone wants to communicate via spoken word on the telephone. – Jen Mitch
25.  When something funny happens, your kids ask you TO post it to Facebook. – Matt Pugh
26. You critique commercials for just using a Facebook logo and not posting the full Facebook web address.
27. You secretly (or not so secretly) wish your phone did not have that annoying “phone” feature. – Xbadgr
28. You think your Twitter friends are much smarter than your Facebook friends.
29. When people mention a news article to you, you explain that you knew about that for a while when it broke on Twitter.
30. You hate the attention celebrities get on Twitter but still get really excited when one replies to you or retweets you.
31. The term social media guru gives you chills. – Dani
32. You bought at least one share of Facebook for the cool factor.
33. Even you can’t quite explain what you do for a living. – Rick Ladd
34. You are actively trying to accomplish things that will allow you to legitimately create your own Wikipedia page.
35. When you say “lol” or “omg” in real life even though you know that is something only fifteen year old girls say. – Kelly-lynne Russell
36. When listening to the actual radio, you lean over to click the Pandora thumbs up or down. – Maggie
37. You exchange Twitter handles at events instead of phone numbers or emails. – Jonha Revesencio
38. You check the weather through your smart phone instead of looking out the window or walking outside.
39. You do a happy dance after composing a tweet that is exactly 140 characters on the very first try. – Jenna Petroff
40. You met your husband on Twitter. True story! – Janis La Couvée Or on Myspace. – Sarah Or on Facebook. – Adrienne Wiswell
41. When there is breaking news you get 7 different smart phone alerts with the same message.
42. You have debated which Instagram filter is the best.
43. You have said “you look different than your avatar.” – Martha McCarthy
44. Instead of catching up on how everyone’s days were you talk to your family or roommates about what they saw on Facebook today. – Holly Crews
45. Your kids had Twitter accounts before they were born.
46. Your family thinks you work at Facebook.
47. In vocal conversations with friends you have to differentiate between liking something and “Like”-ing something. – TheDanLevy
48. When your significant other frequently says “Can you check your Twitter for Dodger news, please?” – Sarah
49. You like more brand pages on Facebook than you have friends on Facebook.
50. Your grandmother thinks you’re an alcoholic from all of your Instagram photos – Jenn Pedde
51. You take screen shots of really good or really bad examples of social media. You know, in case you need proof later.
52. You see people in public that you SWEAR you know from their Twitter photo. – Julie Janak
53. Of all the business books written on your industry, you know most of the authors.
54. You wish people would stop focusing so much on “being social” even though you don’t really know what that means.

OK, your turn.

Add your symptoms below, in the comments.