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Exercising caution on social media

14.8.2017 Print

One major phenomenon of our modern world is that of communication via social media. In this manner, we can make contact with large numbers of people; however, all the nuances of face-to-face conversation, such as facial expressions, gestures and intonation are lost.

Undoubtedly this form of human interaction has numerous advantages in that we can easily spread our message and promote good causes to a wider audience. The downside is that certain individuals abuse the anonymity offered by the virtual world to engage in unpleasant behaviour which would be considered totally unacceptable in a face-to-face encounter.

One of the responsibilities of a leader is to bear in mind the potential pitfalls of using social media.

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The following words of caution were published on LinkedIn by Marshall Goldsmith, world-renowned coach of senior executives, speaker and author of popular books on personal development.

  1. There is no such thing as privacy on social media, regardless of how careful you are with your settings.

  2. Some individuals use social media to bully and harass other users. It is best to steer clear of such conflicts, which will only sap your strength.

  3. What has once been said cannot be unsaid; nor can everything be completely expunged from social media – not even if you resort to the extreme measure of deleting your account. Thus there is always a danger that something you said years ago might embarrass you at some future date.

In the course of our lives we will form various kinds of relationships, some more durable than others. It is important to distinguish between relationships which are beneficial and those which are an often unwelcome distraction. The latter should be reduced to a minimum, and possibly eliminated altogether.

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Article source LinkedIn Pulse - LinkedIn blogging platform
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Presentation skills Social networks Management communication