Think before you tweet!

Twitter provided me the “opportunity” to say more with fewer words.

This was a particularly difficult chore for me . . . yet extremely valuable in more ways than one.

Sure! I had to improve my “word-craft” to get what I really wanted to say into 140 characters. For me, the stakes were higher because there isn’t space there to explain . . . and each individual tweet is its own entity. . . its own context . . . and could possibly be completely misconstrued when “shared” (retweeted).

Twitter also has this amazing convenience – We can tweet from ANYWHERE, ALL the time . . . Be careful what you tweet because someone is going to see it before you realize it was BAD and take it down.

Think before you post on Facebook!

Yes! This IS “Social Media” and it’s good therapy (cathartic) for folks to proselytize their persona to their peeps.

The thing is . . . Over time, it becomes a “truth Serum” as each person becomes more comfortable (less guarded) with the content of their posts. All those peeps out there begin to see who we REALLY are because our posts aggregate (build) into our unique context.

It’s entirely possible that a facebook “friend” who you’ve never met in real life knows you better than most of your closest friends and family . . . simply by reading your timeline.

So . . . Consider the following (take heed)

• airing your dirty laundry in Social Media flops
• Bragging about your “busyness” flops
• Evangelizing your political opinions flops
• Evangelizing your religious beliefs flops
• Photographing everything that goes into you mouth flops
• Talking badly about other people? FLOP
• Talking about circumstances of deals you’re working – FLOP
• Talking about clients (Without them being “in the room”) FLOP
• Putting every one of your mood shifts out there . . . FLOP
• What else? 

Each time you whip out your smartphone or sit down at the keypad of the computer to engage in social media, remind yourself that you are walking into a crowded room of people who can ALL see you INSTANTLY.You know some of these folks better than others (some not at all), and many of them will judge you based on what you say (your behavior) at this party.

Whether or not you use Social Media as a business tool (to build relationships that might lead to more business for you), know that the way you present yourself in this electronic party venue absolutely has an impact on how folks view you as a professional.

Don’t let the Social media convenience truth serum sooth you into trashing your own public image.

Just something to ponder . . .

How do YOU use Social Media?

Tweet responsibly 

Best,

b