Social media mistakes

Inspired by some recent posts made by friends and colleagues, I thought I would offer some friendly advice on using social media responsibly. I hope they read this soon…

When we put ourselves out there on social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, blogs, and even multi-recipient emails, we are going public with our personal brands. As such, it's a good idea to remember the following:

1. What you post is out there forever. There is the very real possibility that what you have posted may be available to view long after you have forgotten you ever wrote it.
2. You are judged by all aspects of your posts: the content and ideas you express and how you choose to express them, your language, spelling and grammar, even your punctuation decisions matter.
3. You never know who might be reading your posts. Just because you only sent it to your selected friends doesn't necessarily mean they will be the only ones to view your pearls of wisdom. Forwarding, reposting, and unattended computers can spread your message beyond your intended audience.
4. Your personal world and your professional/business world may be difficult if not impossible to be kept completely separate online.

Here are some friendly suggestions to consider:

1. Don't swear.
2. Don't be mean.
3. Don't post while intoxicated.
4. When in doubt, enter your text into something with a spelling checker (Word, Text Edit, even Google search will flag mistakes), then copy and paste the corrected version into the text box on the site you are posting to.
5. Do a Google check on yourself now and then. Put your name inside quotes and see what comes up. This is especially important if you have a rare or even unique name (like Yours Truly). It's always better to know what ABSOLUTELY EVERYBODY can read about you at the push of a button.
6. Finally, I think it's a great idea to assume that everything you post will be read by your (fill in the most sensitive or influential people in your life here: parents, children, boss, or probation officer)

Proofing this one very carefully ;)

Mark