The Perils of Hyper-Localism

The Perils of Hyper-Localism

Being a Hyper-localist is a lot of things.  It's fun.  It's informative.  It's gas efficient.

It can also be eye-opening and a little freaky....

I try to be "in the know" about the happenings in my neighborhood.  It helps me get a clear picture of what is going on in our market (not to mention that I have a very clear picture of the value of my own home.  Unfortunately!).  It also helps me give my buyers a clear picture of the amenities available to them, and the events scheduled in the area.  This is the true definition of hyper-localism and it's why I love doing it.

Occasionally, this comes back to bite me on the nose....

After reading Alan May's excellent post about being careful what you put out there on the web, I had to share this story.  Alan cautions against that picture taken at the bachelor/ette party, the slightly sarcastic comment, and the full-on rant about someone else's blog post.

And don't even get me started about religion and politics.  (You can post your views, but know that not everyone shares them and you could end up being a very righteous and very client-less REALTOR.  Just saying.)

I recently sent out a Facebook message to my friends who live in my focus area and invited them to share it with their friends in the neighborhood.  It was a synopsis of the information our Neighborhood Watch group had received from the police sergeant who leads the group.  The subject regarded calling 911 even when things look suspicious, even though you are not witnessing a crime being committed.

Well, it started a crap-storm.  People who commented on my original message started leaving snide and snarky comments to each other.  Then, someone I had met only briefly sent me a nasty personal message.  The thread quickly got so off track that I deleted it altogether.  

I know that someone more clever than I can probably look it up and recover it.  I actually wish I had printed it before I wiped it out, but I was a little shell-shocked at the reaction and just pulled that trigger.

What did I learn?  Well, no good deed goes unpunished, for one.  And never jump into a debate unless you want to lose some credibility, even if it is only with the neighborhood goofball.  (I should note that this isn't the first time that a neighborhood goofball has taken exception to something I have reported.  The first time someone was extremely unhappy with me reporting that we need to take our garbage cans in by the night of pick-up day because we could get fined if we didn't.)

I think I'll stick to market reports and local happenings....  There is no way I would drop my hyper-local focus, but I will be much more careful with what I post.