Читать книгу Digital Etiquette For Dummies - Eric Butow - Страница 20

There are several good reasons not to post something objectionable or even threatening — including the quite established fact that it can land you in hot water with your friends or even with law enforcement. Have you, or has someone you know, done one of the following?

 You shared unflattering photos of your friends and then were baffled that they were upset — at least until your friends posted unflattering photos of you and then you started to get the message.

 You left a comment on a false story without checking with one or more credible sources, like major news organizations and/or fact-checking sites like Snopes that have a database of stories that are shown to be false or true — or a mixture of the two.

 You posted about doing something illegal because you thought it made you look cool to your friends, but instead you got in trouble with the law. For example, someone contacted law enforcement when they saw that you bragged about drinking, driving home drunk, and arriving home without a scratch — except when you hit a couple of parked cars but managed to drive off with no trouble.

 You’ve posted some confidential details that someone later used against you. For example, if you’re going through a divorce and you’ve posted a lot of ugly details, you’re shocked that the lawyer for your ex somehow found those details and is using them against you.

 You had no responses to your complaints that it’s too hot in the summer or to your photos showing that you had scrambled eggs for breakfast. That got you to thinking about what others want to see in your social media feeds and you started making better decisions about what to post — and being more careful has reduced your stress because you feel no pressure to post every little event in your life.

When you’re impaired in some way, you’re more likely to make poor judgments and decisions. That’s true even if you're just checking your email and social media. Don't respond to a message if you have a hangover, if you’re tired, or even if you’ve just awakened and you're looking at the content on your smartphone without having that first cup of coffee. The same is true if you’re agitated — take some time to think about the situation and shift your mind to a place where it’s feeling good and you’re ready to respond like an adult. This strategy beats saying something that could damage your reputation or get you into even worse trouble.