(no subject)

[randomness]

I keep being reminded how important it is in social contexts to know what not to say and when not to say it.

Most recently this has been in social media. I keep deleting comments before hitting the "Post" button. I'm pretty sure most everyone is happier this way. I certainly am.

I know that this is pretty much the opposite of the way I'm supposed to use social media. That is a problem with social media, not me.

Comments

[redbird]

Ny impression is that we are "supposed" to be using social media for a parade of the trivial: that I should have noted down my Twitter password and tweeted things like "Eastside for Hire car service stood me up" and "Brownie with balsamic reduction still wonderful" over the last few days.

Or not gone to personal email halfway through a conversation prompted by a posted double entendre in a chatlog on a friend's journal. (Their posting the chat log in the first place, well, that bit was amusing without revealing anything that they're already pretty open about.)

[randomness]

I try to remember that we, through our posts and comments, are the product, not the customer. Social media has an interest in making it easy for us to create product. It wouldn't be unreasonable to think that ill-considered gaffes are even better product from their point of view, because they attract more attention.

I do try to provide what I consider to be a quality product, if only because it makes me feel better about it all. :)

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

Word. As it were.

[rednikki.livejournal.com]

I could not agree with you more.

[donnad.livejournal.com]

Yep, I do the same thing. Or I will type out the whole diatribe and save it to a text file. I go back and read and edit it occasionally when that particular button is pushed again, but it never gets posted.

[agrimony.livejournal.com]

I would respond, but I'd probably just end up deleting it. :)

[drwex]

I write lots more comments than I make. One of my preferred methods is to ask "is this helping" before hitting the "add a comment" or "post" button. If I can't say yes, I don't hit the button.

I'm trying to teach my kids this skill because I came to it so late in my own life.