Five Things I've Learned Posting On Social Media - plus one more

[shadowkat]

Overall, new apt is actually pretty quiet. There's some rumbling about upstairs, and in the hall at various times. But it's oddly more quiet than the last apt.

Five things I've learned on social media, plus one. [Disclaimer - not directed towards anyone in particular.]

1. Don't take anything anyone writes or posts personally - even if they are directing it towards you. Because let's face it - odds are they haven't met you, don't know what you look like, haven't heard your voice, and/or felt your hug. They are just responding to your words - and words can be easily misread. (Not to mention mistyped, misinterpreted and mistranslated.)

2. Write carefully. Keep in mind that strangers are reading your words, and deciphering them through various lenses, not to mention various and often unreliable language translating software. (You should also remember to read carefully before responding to a post - don't just scan and get pissed over a sentence. When read in context, that sentence may have a completely different meaning that you thought. Re-read the post carefully prior to responding to it...this will prevent misunderstandings. And potential embarrassments..."oh wait, you were talking about hamsters, I thought you were talking about hipsters...so sorry."

3. Do not respond to anything written in social media from a place of anger or rage, or out of a desire for revenge, vindictiveness, or frustration. If your hands are shaking so badly from anger that you can't type - this is probably a good sign that you should just let it go and do something completely unrelated. Remember sometimes saying nothing is better than writing a diatribe. And over time, everyone will forget about it. Responding to something that makes you crazy just draws more attention to it.

4. Just because no one responds to your posts or your responses to posts - does not mean no one is reading them. Do you respond to every post that you read on the internet? Nor does it mean people don't like what you wrote, or weren't moved by it.
It may just mean that they have nothing insightful to say outside of - oh cool, I read that. Or shit, so sorry that happened. Or they just didn't see it.

5. When commenting on someone else's post ask yourself if you'd want them to respond in a similar manner to your posts? Trust me, karma being what it is - the negative vibes you send out to the universe will jump back and bite you. If you respond snarkily to someone else - someone will do it to you. (Learned this the hard way.)

Finally, when someone pisses you off online, wait a couple of weeks or even a month before you decide to de-friend or block them. You might change your mind and realize it was a silly thing, and your anger at them was actually the result of a bad case of indigestion.

Comments

[sophist.livejournal.com]

For me at least, #3 is critical. My biggest regrets have come when I failed to wait a couple of hours to cool off before responding.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Yep, #3 is my biggest problem as well. I've responded to one too many posts in anger and deeply regretted it afterwards.

[mamculuna.livejournal.com]

I agree with all of that, very much! Except that relatives on FB who praise Rush Limbaugh get unfollowed before I scroll down the page. Waiting is not going to improve how I feel about them, I've come to see.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Luckily I do not have that problem. No Rush Limbaugh followers. My relatives/friends are as liberal as I am.

Some people do over-post on FB though...and take it over.

[masqthephlsphr.livejournal.com]

The internet is forever. Post it, and it might still bite back in ten years.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Well there is always the delete button...unless of course you wait too long and someone has reposted it, copied it, or pasted it into their own journal.

Tumblr is evil. ;-)

[matrixmann]

Greatest advice one can give.

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

All good advice.