Why Good Judgement is the Ultimate Social Media Skill

The question always comes, up…if you had to name the one must-have skill set for a social media practitioner what would it be? The answer is simple, good judgement. This is a hard skill to teach someone, it comes not only from experience but also being a master at self-control. Some may disagree with me and think the latest technical prowess is THE skill, or a pick your poison for what makes someone “good” at social media, but I can’t help but confidently say that I’ve seen too many smart people in this space get in trouble because of lack of good judgement.

Not only does this come into play when wanting to capitalize on the latest “trending” topic, and you just happen to pick the wrong one, oops! This good judgement business applies even more so when looking at the people behind the voice. I am specifically referencing the behind the scenes behavior of those directly responsible for social media management. PR people tend to be very open about their life, after all, they are social human beings and if they were hidden from the Google machine that would be rather suspect. Keeping all that in mind, it’s important to be able to practice some self-control when it comes to the issue you want to fall on your sword for when you’re managing brands social presence, it’s a big responsibility and the last thing you want is to be called into question about your own questionable behavior on social channels. I am looking at you political ranter, inappropriate picture poster, and just overall offender.

This may sound like common sense, but you’d be surprised how many PR and social practitioners don’t practice what they preach. Good judgement, practice it, master it.