Social networking can be equally bad as it is good, wack as it is fun, and addictive as it is restrictive! I think we can all vouch for moments were social networking has gone terribly wrong. I have recently been taking notice to the "false sense of friendship" that it can give and the "boldness" it gives it users who would not normally have it in a face to face situation. So of course...I felt the need to blog about it. Purely my thoughts...
Friendship is something that I take extremely seriously! It is not a word that I use lightly either. It takes years to get to really "know" people!!! A year at the absolute minimum! And don't get me wrong,social networking online is great for networking and easy introductions! However, being one who is in the public eye...I find that social networking has blurred the lines of what real friendship is. Just because we may chit chat on facebook or have a few back and forth tweets on twitter doesn't make us "close". Especially when it comes to business! It seems that people feel just because we are "facebook friends" that you shouldn't present yourself at your professional best! Resumes, formal letters, and meetings still hold weight! Its also not an excuse to address someone without some formality. So no, I will not "pass your info along" to anyone that I have built a professional rappor with, when I haven't even met you and shook your hand in person! How do I even know that you are really what you represent online? The computer allows people to create personas, of how they want to be seen verses what and who the really are. Which brings me to my next point...
People say and do things online they know they have absolutely no nerve to say in person!!! Guys trying to hit on you over instant messages, rude comments on your photos or statuses, tacky emails, and the list goes on... Trust and believe that I am every bit of me in person as I am online! People never cease to amaze me at the things they say online, and not sure if it is just my experience but it is becoming increasingly worse!! Especially knowing a lot of the people that I share these social networking sites with in real life. I often wonder why they never express the same things when I see them in passing? Yet they hit you up as if it were so easy for them to do! Language sounding so confident...whether negative or positive. Some people even pretend not to know each other in public...but are "friends" online. The computer screen is so easy to hide behind!
I will wrap it up by saying this...Be careful about reacting emotionally to quickly online! Think about your words carefully! Language is often and easily misinterpreted through these forms of communication. Relationships (personal and professional) are damaged sometimes beyond repair over these issues, so I just say be careful!!! As they say...don't write checks that your ass can't cash! And in this case...don't be someone online that you can't produce in person!!! That's all I have to say about that!!! *in my Forrest Gump voice*
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