Spring is a season for new beginnings. Flowers bloom, animals crawl out of hibernation, and everyone gets the urge to tidy up. Whether you’ve been conditioned by your parents that spring equals cleaning or you love Marie Kondo’s work, you probably take some time to refresh and reorganize your space once a year. But we don’t often refresh our social media pages. Couldn’t they use a little spring cleaning too?

Even if you blindly scroll and never post your own content, chances are that your social media platforms are crowded with content that doesn’t suit you any longer. Your favorite sounds are so overwhelming you struggle to use them, you haven’t updated your profile picture in nearly a year, and you haven’t even thought about how many likes your videos have gotten. So, let’s give your social media a little dose of spring cleaning! This article will help you clear out the digital clutter and reevaluate your content, so you can start the new season with a breath of fresh air.

Why Does My Social Media Need a Spring Cleaning? 🤔

Even the most tech-savvy amongst us don’t think about decluttering our socials. They aren’t taking up physical space, so it’s hard to realize that they’re messy. But we spend a lot of time on our phones either creating or consuming content, and having clutter in your digital space can make creating overwhelming. Periodically taking stock of what you have saved, what you’ve posted, and what you use can make the process easier and help you find success.

We’ll break the social media spring cleaning into two categories: a regular clear-out, and cleaning up your strategy.

Clear Out 🧹📦

Even if you aren’t trying to be the next great influencer, there’s plenty you can do to refresh your profiles.

Unfollow People 😵

If you do nothing else, this is the most important piece of the puzzle. You don’t have to spend too much time on it and this isn’t meant to be stressful, but this is one of the messiest places on your socials. It’s the content we consume daily that can influence our mood and outlook. And with the algorithm introducing content from people you don’t follow, it can be hard to see what may no longer appeal to you.

Take stock of the accounts you follow and get rid of any that:

• You no longer enjoy. Maybe the style or tone has changed, or your taste has evolved. If it’s not something you’re excited to see, it can go.
• You’re no longer friends with. That acquaintance from high school you haven’t talked to since you graduated? The old boss you never really liked? Click that unfollow button!
• You’re no longer interested in it. It’s good content, maybe you like the person running the account, but you just aren’t interested in watching their content anymore.

Additional Tip: If someone’s content makes you upset, angry, or feel inferior, it’s totally okay to block or mute them. You don’t need anything making you feel negative, so get rid of anyone adding fuel to that fire. This goes for accounts you hate-follow; if they leave you feeling bad, they’ve got to go!

Your Own Content 📸

We’ve all scrolled through our past posts for no reason. This time, consider each of your posts as you scroll. Does it add to your page? Do you still like that kind of content? Is it still up to your standards? If you answered ‘no’ to one or more of these, chances are you can trash it.

If that post holds some kind of nostalgia or memory, don’t feel like you have to get rid of it because it’s not perfect anymore. And if you’re proud of your content creation journey or of your personal growth, it can stay. You can repost and add some context, or Clapback your own video to explain how things have changed.  That said, don’t let yourself stew in negativity and regret. If you hate a post, toss it.

Your Beliefs 🙊

You may come across some content that you no longer agree with or messages you no longer support. Maybe it’s political, or maybe it’s just an opinion on a book you read. Either way, you can still 100% get rid of it. Your social media is an extension of you, so you want to make sure it accurately represents you. If there’s content you no longer support, feel free to delete it.

But if you’re proud of the journey you’re on or don’t want to hide your beginnings, try to recontextualize it. Clapback your own video or post a new one discussing this piece. If it’s easier (and makes you rest easier) to just delete that post and forget that chapter of your life, go for it.

Update Your Profile 🪪

Yes, it’s spring cleaning even if it’s this easy. Is your biography still correct; does it do a good job of representing you? Is your picture up to date…or was it at least taken within the last six months? Are the links on your profile still working? And when was the last time you looked at your settings? Take some time to read and click around. This is probably the easiest and most fun part of this refresh!

Cleaning Up Your Strategy 🧼✨

Performance Evaluation 📈

This adds another layer to reviewing your content. You’ll look at what you posted, yes, but you’ll also look at the engagement it got. Which posts got the most likes? Comments? Which of your posts has performed the best? Check the analytics if you can and make a note of your best posts. Then, try to figure out why. This will help you see what your audience likes and what content to focus on moving forward.

Platforms 📱

Spend some time looking at the platforms you’re on and the content you create there. If you stopped creating content or checking your notifications somewhere, why? Did you find another platform you liked better? Was there something you didn’t enjoy about your content? If an app no longer serves you and you don’t want to spend time on it, delete it. Balancing life and social media is hard enough; only use platforms you enjoy creating on.

Update Your Profile…Again 🪪🤷🏻

Take another look at your profile and make sure that your information is up to date and accurately describes you. Make sure that your links work, your profile picture matches your brand, and that your biography gives new users a quick idea of what to expect. If you’re a comedy creator, maybe your profile picture is you in a clown wig and your biography says something like “Cracking jokes, punching lines, making people laugh. Comedy Livestreams Tuesdays at 2pm ET.”

Your Arsenal 🧰

Take some time to look at the tools that you currently use to create content. What software or apps do you have to help you, and what do you actually think of them? Often we’ll download new things to try out and just…never use them. Delete the ones you never tried or simply don’t use anymore. keep your tool kit simple!

Set A Goal 🎯🏆

Like any other task, spring cleaning can be really daunting if you don’t have a clear goal to work toward. Before you really dig into tidying, Take a second to answer a few questions.

• Why are you cleaning?
• What do you want to focus on?
• What do you want to accomplish?

Whether you just want to make your profiles prettier or you’re hoping to get rid of any unused ideas or bookmarks, take the time to figure out what you want. Having a clear vision for your clear-out will make it easier to decide what stays and what goes. Not to mention it will help you figure out if you need a deep clean or a quick scrub! And do not be afraid to build in a few rewards if you think you’ll need some extra motivation. Prizes are the best incentive.

Clearing out this clutter will help you adjust your creator goals for the year and make creating so much easier. And when creating is easier, balancing content and life is, too. To learn more about creator goals, read this article from our blog. For some insight on balancing social media and your life, check out this article, too.