--- title: 7 Tips for Upping Your Social Media Game in 2015 description: Here are 7 things you can do to improve your social-media-facing face canonical: https://time.com/3662041/7-tips-for-upping-your-social-media-game-in-2015/ author: Guy Kawasaki article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-09T19:50:52.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-30T11:02:50.712Z article:section: Ideas og:title: 7 Tips for Upping Your Social Media Game in 2015 og:description: Here are 7 things you can do to improve your social-media-facing face og:url: https://time.com/3662041/7-tips-for-upping-your-social-media-game-in-2015/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt68bf013ccb825951/69877922a988ca82206abcf3/9781591848073_artsocialmedia_jkf300.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1538 og:image:height: 865 og:image:alt: 9781591848073_ArtSocialMedia_JKF300 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 7 Tips for Upping Your Social Media Game in 2015 twitter:description: Here are 7 things you can do to improve your social-media-facing face twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt68bf013ccb825951/69877922a988ca82206abcf3/9781591848073_artsocialmedia_jkf300.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 7 Tips for Upping Your Social Media Game in 2015 > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Inside TIME: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Inside TIME is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories. Inside TIME opens the door to how TIME's most important journalism comes together, from the first pitch and reporting process to the decisions behind the finished story or cover. Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs takes readers inside the newsroom, revealing the journalists, ideas and editorial choices behind the stories shaping the global conversation. It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=bebcf696-bf17-4899-8770-d2589adf713a&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Wednesday and Saturday (2x per week) | TIME, August 2026 | | Subscribers | 430,000 | TIME, August 2026 | | Open rate | 50.7% | TIME, August 2026 | | Written by | Sam Jacobs, Editor-in-Chief | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership Globally minded knowledge seekers. Readers who turn to journalism to understand the world, with meaningful concentrations among educators, students, media professionals, civic institutions and knowledge workers. ### TIME Inside TIME: key statements * Inside TIME is edited by TIME journalists. Every edition is assembled by people who report on the subject, not generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923, and its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting. Readers can trust what they read. * Inside TIME is free. Readers select it, along with any of TIME's other newsletters, at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=bebcf696-bf17-4899-8770-d2589adf713a&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1). * TIME's newsletter network reaches more than 1.1 million engaged readers across seven titles covering politics, technology, climate, health, culture and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/subscribe?i=bebcf696-bf17-4899-8770-d2589adf713a&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What is Inside TIME? Inside TIME is a twice-weekly newsletter written by TIME Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs. It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. It reaches 430,000 subscribers with a 50.7% open rate as of August 2026. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. by [Guy Kawasaki](https://time.com/author/guy-kawasaki/) and [Peg Fitzpatrick](https://time.com/author/peg-fitzpatrick/) Jan 9, 2015 7:50 PM UTC  by [Guy Kawasaki](https://time.com/author/guy-kawasaki/) and [Peg Fitzpatrick](https://time.com/author/peg-fitzpatrick/) Jan 9, 2015 7:50 PM UTC Less carbohydrates? Check. More exercise? Check. Now for the really important stuff: upping your social-media game. Social media–whether Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or Instagram—is here to stay and will remain important to enhancing your personal and professional relationships. Here are 7 things you can do to improve your social-media-facing face: 1. Fix your avatar. Your avatar is the first thing that people judge. It should be your face, in focus, lit from the front, and asymmetrical. Don’t crop your face from a large, crappy cell phone picture. The purpose of an avatar is to convince people that you are likable, trustworthy, and competent. Don’t try to tell your life story with it. 2. Update your bio. The second thing people look at to determine if you’re worth taking seriously is your bio. Is yours up to date and complete? This is the place to tell your life story. The more information that you provide, the more ways there are for people to connect with you. Your bio on social-media sites is just as important as your LinkedIn profile—hopefully you realize how important your LinkedIn profile is too. 3. Add a photo or video to every post. You can double the effectiveness of your posts by including a picture or video. In the valley of text, the post with graphics is king. This may add a few minutes of effort, but no single action can make your posts better than adding some eye candy to every post. Power tip: you can add up to four pictures to a tweet. 4. Master your camera. This is a corollary to the previous resolution. The camera in your phone is better than most cameras used by professional photographers until a few years ago. Here are some simple principles to observe to taking better pictures: turn your camera sidewards so that your pictures are more wide than tall; ensure that the source of light is in front of your subject, not behind it; get closer to your subjects—pictures of people do not need to capture them from head to toe, chest-up is good enough; shoot asymmetrical pictures (“[rule of thirds](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule%5Fof%5Fthirds)”) because they are most interesting than positioning everything/everyone smack dab in the middle. 5. Use a scheduling service (for example, [Buffer](https://bufferapp.com/app), [Hootsuite](https://hootsuite.com/), [Sprout](https://app.sproutsocial.com/dashboard/)). Since we added effort by requiring photos and videos in posts, let us remove some now. These services enable you to write one post and share them on multiple services such as Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and LinkedIn. You can also schedule your posts for ideal times based on where your audience lives and their social-media consumption habits. (Disclosure: Guy advises Buffer.) 6. Share at least one post per day. Think of social media as flossing but with greater benefits: enhanced relationships, greater visibility, and, seriously, fun. These goals are imminently achievable, but they require consistent effort over the course of several months to see results. You’ll have to stand by the side of a river a long time before a roast duck or social-media goodness flies into your mouth. Very few people post too much good stuff. 7. Take the high road. This is the toughest resolution of them all. It’s not only hard to “win” online arguments, it’s also hard to prove that they are worth winning. The most important people in arguments are not the ones you’re taking on. The most important people are the ones who are watching your reaction, so take the high road and stay positive. If you can’t stay positive, then simply ignore the bozos, haters, and psychopaths. When it comes to social media, ignoring is bliss. If you can stick with these power tips and resolutions, you’ll awesome-ize your social-media presences, and we promise that good things will happen. And by mid-2015, you’ll be thinner, healthier, and more popular. Than ever. _Guy Kawasaki and Peg Fitzpatrick are the co-authors of_ The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3662041/7-tips-for-upping-your-social-media-game-in-2015/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3662041/7-tips-for-upping-your-social-media-game-in-2015/"},"headline":"7 Tips for Upping Your Social Media Game in 2015","datePublished":"2015-01-09T19:50:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-30T11:02:50.712Z","description":"How to increase influence and gain followers","url":"https://time.com/3662041/7-tips-for-upping-your-social-media-game-in-2015/","keywords":["Technology","Social Media","facebook","twitter","LinkedIn"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt68bf013ccb825951/69877922a988ca82206abcf3/9781591848073_artsocialmedia_jkf300.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Guy Kawasaki","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/guy-kawasaki/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Peg Fitzpatrick","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/peg-fitzpatrick/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt68bf013ccb825951/69877922a988ca82206abcf3/9781591848073_artsocialmedia_jkf300.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"9781591848073_ArtSocialMedia_JKF300","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/technology/","name":"Technology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3662041/7-tips-for-upping-your-social-media-game-in-2015/","name":"7 Tips for Upping Your Social Media Game in 2015"}}]}] ```