Blow your cool offline and it's probably forgotten about in 24 hours. Have it out with someone online and there's not only a record you can't erase, but it could spread past the 15 feet your voice would normally carry.
Do online communication tools make it easier to tell someone what's really on your mind? You think you may be hiding behind your twitter alias, but you're really putting yourself out there.
You can't really take back your words when there's a trail of them in cyberspace. I reckon it to having a fight with your spouse in Best Buy. It's just between the two of you, but you have all these onlookers -- customers and workers -- who will only ever know you that way. The big difference is the onlookers. What may have been strangers in the store could become colleagues, potential clients, bosses, friends and even more strangers online.
Such was the case when a national reporter picked a fight with a marketing consultant on twitter. His offline demeanor annoyed her enough to tweet about, though not naming names. He took offense and thus the bashing began.
Strangers retweeted the story. Some looked up the antagonist's twitter page and even read some of his old posts, searching for a trend in his crude behavior.
The up side is when you're in the heat of an argument and the other person says, "listen to yourself," you can truly go back and reread how irrational (they think) you are being. Could be a new behavioral training technique. It just might make you think twice about how, where and who you pick a fight with next.
Have you ever regretted something you "said" online while drunk, angry or fervently upset? Did it spread to people it was not intended for?
Sarah Jo Sautter
Strategists & Planners
Comments (1)
Communication online is a cool thing when your friends are far away and you want to know how they are, look at their photos and tell how the things are with you. But when you make friends with those people whom you even don't greet in real life, who are strangers to you or whom you have never seen in your life it's absurd, I suppose. Moreover, quarrelling and arguing with them online is just a pointless entertainment. I've seen some peculiarities of such communication on http://rapid4me.com and I completely disapprove of such friendship.
Posted on October 1, 2009 01:05