First up, this comes with a disclaimer. I am very active online. I blog actively, comment actively. This blogger identity spills over the my Facebook and Twitter. This path, in itself, has sometimes felt a bit risky as I’ve made a couple of mistakes over this time. It’s also been painful during busy periods as it means waking up at 6am or earlier every day to make sure I finish my blogging for the day before showing up to work. But I’ve found it well worth the effort.
That said, I’ve learnt a few things about responsibility in the process.
Assume what you do online will be read and seen by everyone. I do mean everyone. There are many many times I’ve had people mention something they’ve read in an old blog post. Sometimes, it’s downright scary and yet some other times, it’s downright nice.
The point to take away is simple. Assume everything you post online is read by everyone.
What can be misconstrued will be misconstrued. This is a lesson I’ve learnt with any written form of communication. The difficulty with any communication is people don’t hear what you say, they hear what they think you are saying. While communication gaps can occur with poor face to face communication, more often than not, the real intent is communicated when interacting with a person face to face because we pick up all the non verbal cues that complete the picture.
The difficulty with the written word is that these non verbal cues go missing and words, if misconstrued, can sting. This is a lesson that applies to anything written – What can be misconstrued will be misconstrued.
And yes, this is indeed a warning.
Stick to the non negative. I might have said ‘stick to the positive’ but I understand that that is not for everyone. Keeping the above rule in mind, all I’ll say is stick to the non negative.
If you’ve got a chip on your shoulder or a bone to pick, sort it out in person. Be careful writing about it, or anything related for that matter. It’s a risky game to play and it’s one best avoided.
Even if you are planning to write about something you know to be contentious, don’t hit the publish button. Relationships are not worth risking over a Facebook status or blog post.
Be active before or after office hours, if possible. This is simple and self explanatory. Be present. Do meaningful work. And probably most importantly, draw some boundaries.
This posts ended up sounding more like a disclaimer/warning post than intended but it does accurately represent how I feel about online identity and social media. It can be very rewarding but with every possibility of high return comes a certain amount of risk. And I recognize this is more a ‘disclaimer’ post than a ‘here is why you should social media post’ because there is enough of the latter out there.
A Learning a Day 