The Best Online "You" and "Me"

OK, I'm beginning to understand the difference between being the proverbial "stick in the mud" and just being professional. I can't vouch for anyone else, but I am amazed on a daily basis at what people are willing to post on their Facebook pages. I don't think anyone should feel the need to appear to have no opinions or come across as humorless in their online posts, but I do think we should all consider what our posts say about us.



Here are a few things I've learned to keep in mind with online posts:

1. Everything I post online is public. No matter what my privacy settings are, Facebook, Twitter, etc, are public forums. (Anyone else learn this one the hard way? I know I did...)

2. I have a wonderfully diverse group of friends, family, and professional contacts who all get lumped into one forum: my news feed. Although I appreciate that we all engage in social media activities for different reasons, I also appreciate that some posts, taken out of context come across as downright ignorant, angry, or hateful. I always try to consider what friends of friends think about what I post. I purposefully try to disengage from a lot of political statements, for example, not because I don't have opinions, but because my news feed or timeline is not a debate forum, and things can get really ugly really quickly. I'm not saying we should never post opinions, but we should try to be aware of how inflammatory some subjects are. I don't know that I'm always successful, but I want my profile to represent the best of me.

3. My timeline is just that, mine. I've offended some people, and lost at least one Facebook friend, by messaging them to let them know I'll be removing a post from my timeline. I don't want obscenities on my page. I don't want my family and especially professional contacts reading those kinds of posts. I'd be a liar if I said I've never said a curse word, but I, like I assume most people, tend to say them in my worst and weakest moments of anger and frustration. I don't want my Facebook pages to represent the worst of me, but the best, and who I am the majority of the time.

4. Posts never really go away. We've probably all read or heard this before. Often. So, I say to think of posts like that awesome tattoo you might be considering. What's it going to look like 10, 20, 30, etc, years down the road.

5. I can't vouch for anyone else, but Facebook is a fun place for me. I want it to stay that way. I hate blocking "all updates," but have on occasion when posts have made my online fun time not-so-fun. So again, think about what you post, and know that someone may block you. Try to forgive and understand what they use social media for.

I'm sure there is an exhaustive list I could write, and others have written posts similar to this and even devoted studies and book chapters to this discussion. I encourage any contributions you might make to an exhaustive list in the form of a comment.

To tie all this up, I just want to mention one more thing. As I already mentioned in a previous post "Bigger Than Myself," we also represent our schools, workplaces, and in the case of this blog, our arts organizations. Our personal content can be viewed as positive or negative PR for activities and organizations outside of ourselves. So, before you post that provocative political statement or off-color joke, think about all you represent, and whether or not you are being the best online "you" you can be. I know I do, or at least try to, and trying generally leads to eventual success.

Until next time...
Ro Huizinga