19. Three social media tips

Turns out Sammi and I think the same way about a lot of things, including this - she said what I was going to say!

Hm. So for what they're worth, here are three other social media tips.

It's a conversation...
When Twitter first started getting popular, I remember an acquaintance getting cross that people were having exchanges on Twitter rather than just posting their 140 character pronouncements and leaving it at that. And when some people join Twitter they feel a bit bemused, saying, "well, when does it get interesting?" Well if you're only interested in the 140 character pronouncement-type posts, then I guess it all depends on who you follow. But I find it gets much more interesting when you start interacting with people, whether friends or people you don't know.

...in public...
Well, duh. Otherwise you'd just write stuff down in a journal, wouldn't you? Even if your privacy settings are high, you're posting something online because you want other people to see it and interact with it. So a) don't get upset when people have an opinion, b) think about whether it's something you want everyone to see, and c) especially as regards photos, once it's out there, it's potentially out there forever, even if you delete it (people can take screenshots).

...with humans
So the key thing, having said all that, is it's important to remember that on social media you're engaging with real people (well, except for spambots). Even trolls are people, sad to say. Social media does free you up to say a lot of things you might not say face to face, but at the same time, not everything is worth saying. I don't mean that everything you post should be worthy and deep (which you will know if you are my Facebook friend or Twitter follower!), just that sometimes it's good to take a second or two before you hit enter. You might avoid needlessly hurting or humiliating someone (or embarrassing yourself!).