2 out of 5 brand fans change their mind and subsequently click Unlike. What’s more, those Unlikes tend to occur at the end of a promotion, probably after the consumer has downloaded the coupon, entered the contest, etc.

What’s driving this “anti-social” behavior?

The top reasons for Unliking are the brand is no longer of interest (49%), postings are not interesting (46%), and the company posts too frequently (36%.) I believe, “I only clicked on Like to get the coupon” is a key unstated reason too.

Unliking brands is part of the broader trend of Americans pruning social media profiles now that they are over their initial exuberance.

Significantly more consumers are unfriending people, untagging pictures, and deleting comments than ever before. Women are cutting back more than men, and 18-29 year olds are most aggressively disconnecting.

Consumers are shrinking their social media usage for a variety of reasons. They are overloaded with information, trying to save time, worried about privacy, and bored by updates from casual acquaintances (or people they don’t even remember.) Some have experienced the downside of oversharing or a post gone wrong.

Social media is clearly here to stay. And the trend towards smaller social networks, including only the brands and people that really matter, is too.

• How are we ensuring that our content and our post frequency are perfect for our target market?
• Are we using tactics that will cause consumers to Like us and then drop us the minute they have received an offer?