On Monday we discussed how social media has become the new way for “hallway chat” (the new “water cooler”), and how damaging the impact can be on others. The primary focus of our blog and today’s Quick Tips is the harm you can cause others. We assume no one intends to cause harm to another so our point is that what you may think are innocuous comments can cause untended harm to others – to the point of loss of credibility or a reason not to hire them or use their services.
So today we offer some quick tips for proper use so you can optimize this incredibly powerful tool, and mitigate any harm to others in your network. And do know that when you cause harm to another you also define who you are as person and will cause harm to yourself.
1. Know that what you “post” (write/record) on social media gets out there immediately, becomes public, and has “stick-power”. So, do not share any confidential information about another person – or about your company. There are few absolutes, but this is one of them.
2. Do not share what is known as “stray remarks” that could be misinterpreted or have a negative perception potential. “Stray remarks” are those observations about another where you share an opinion or observation such as: he’s too old to do that job; she’s only out for herself, and other such comments.
3. Be careful of the potential impact your initial message can have even though it was not intended to be harmful. (An example would be “I too am upset that he/she didn’t do what we wanted to do”). While you may not have intended to cause harm, the social media allows responses and comments. The responses and comments can start a chain of “stray remarks” that can get out of control and result in significant harm to another.
4. If you want to make a comment and it has the potential to be unfavorable to another, take if “off line” from the social media. You can send a person a private message through the social media site or you can send an email to the person.
As we wrote on Monday, there are no casual moments on social media. What we find is that the law of unintended consequences is alive and well and living within the “space” of the social media realm. And two of those unintended consequences are loss of trust in you and loss of opportunities and repute for the person you targeted. We are at a complete loss to understand why this would be worth it.
Remember, what you post can cause harm to another person, but it also represents you and defines and frames your repute.
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