The complete guide to wishing holiday cheer on social media

Every holiday, our social media feeds are flooded with photos and posts. They all start to look the same after a while. A pose with your dog by the Christmas tree, a group shot by the fire.

If you’re one of these people, you might be struggling to make your holiday greeting stand out. Not to mention the unwritten rule: You should post on every social media outlet you use. However, every network is different, with its own customs and culture — holiday wishes for your Facebook friends probably won’t translate so well to Snapchat. Navigating it all can be a delicate task.

Sound daunting? Never fear — we’ve broken down best way to send holiday greetings on all the major social networks. Here’s how to get your ho-ho-ho on in the digital realm.

Facebook

Facebook might be the only social media platform you’re obligated to be friends with your mom, your aunt, your grandma and your grandma’s best friend, Louise. So obviously Facebook is meant for your most charming, family-friendly post.

Be direct. Thank, bless and tag everyone who falls under the family tree. For extra credit, be sure to include a photo of yourself with your family wearing matching outfits because visual content is eye-catching and guaranteed to garner more likes than you’re used to.

Instagram

Instagram and Facebook have a little bit of a crossover, especially since most people share their Instagram posts to Facebook. Yes, you can post your family-friendly posts to Instagram. But keep it short — you don’t need to tag everyone and their mom. Throw in some hashtags, but be playful with them. #Holidays2015 is obvious, boring and sounds like a marketing scheme. Try something funny, snarky or punny (i.e. #foodcoma, #holidazed, #holladays or, if you’re surrounded by gifts, #capitalism.)

If you really want to step up your ‘gram game, Instagram is where pop culture references really shine. Don’t bother writing your own holiday message or taking your own photo when someone like Kanye can do it for you.

Twitter

Here’s where your writing and comedic chops are put to the test. You have 140 characters, and it has to stick out in a sea of all the other holiday content people are pushing in the Twitterverse.

Twitter isn’t for your standard holiday greeting. In fact, don’t even greet anyone. Self-deprecating comments during an otherwise cheery holiday are the best way to get your point across. Complain about how your Aunt Jo is asking why you’re still single, or live-tweet the glasses of wine you’re downing just to get through the night.

santa’s 8 reindeer
1.anxiety
2.crushing nostalgia
3.unrequited love
4.panic attack
5.isolation
6.self-doubt
7.longing
8.fucked

— so sad today (@sosadtoday) December 22, 2014

You can also make fun of your family because there’s a good chance they won’t ever see it.

Attention everyone, Kevin will be taking his talents to the social media world come the new year pic.twitter.com/sxVoteZ7Jy

— Ciara O’Shea (@shaciaraoshea) December 24, 2014

Snapchat

There are a couple different ways you can approach Snapchat. If you want to put in some time and effort, take a selfie and draw a winter wonderland around your face. Still, that’s admittedly a lot of effort for a message that will disappear quickly, and Snapchat is the best platform for quick, raw and possibly offensive images and videos. Take a slo-mo of your dad devouring a pie, or zoom in on grandpa falling asleep at the dinner table and write “Happy Holidays!” in the corner. If you’re lazy and running out of money shots, swipe on a holiday-themed geotag.

Pro tip: To access the color white or pink, drag your finger up the color strip but continue dragging your corner to the top left corner. For black or brown, drag your finger down the color strip and continue dragging it to the bottom left corner.

Vine

Like Twitter, Vine gets a lot of its charm in humor. Grab your family and friends, put on your best acting face and reenact some of the most relatable moments of the holiday, like the one below.

Or if you want to get real hyped, edit music and images the way no one’s experienced them before. We won’t be surprised if Drake and/or “Hotline Bling” make quite a few Vine appearances this season.

Texting

OK, texting chains are really dumb, especially when taken seriously and involve a horror story. But during the holidays, ironic texting chains are a hilarious way to say happy holidays to your friends. We know they don’t want the formal greeting.

You can take from one of the rated R chain texts from this Tumblr — various holidays included — or come up with your own, like the one I made below.

Whatever kind of text chain you use, make sure you are VERY liberal with emoji. There’s no such thing as too many emoji.

If you’re away from home during the holidays, it should be a given that you should send your parents a sweet, nice note, and maybe limit the emoji to no more than three. Actually calling your parents, though, might be the better choice.

BONUS: iPhone social apps

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