Before You Get Offended By Someone On Social Media, Read This!

Social media is funny. People are cool and awesome and weird and funny. I love all of it (except for cyberbullies — they deserve every horrible thing headed their way. And stalkers…they suck, too.)

: Sylvia Plath (flickr on Pinterest)

People sometimes question what I post on my Twitter stream or Facebook wall — it makes me wonder: why do they care what I share? And if they don’t like it, why not just unfriend/unfollow? Here are some of the silliest and funniest.

RELIGION AND POLITICS

If you’ve followed me for awhile, you know that I feel strongly that authors risk alienating potential readers by focusing too much on religion or politics, or engaging in discussions that have little or nothing to do with their books and focus on these topics instead. I’m not saying to NEVER engage in these discussions — that’s not it at all. I’m saying that, from a marketing perspective, authors should think long and hard before making the decision to potentially polarize their readers and lose sales in a public way.

Many disagree. One guy so vehemently disagreed with me that he refused to read this article I wrote about it, and harangued me for about 50 tweets, about the article he refused to read — much of it not even related to the topics in the article — until I blocked him.

I’m allowed to express my opinion. If you disagree with me, cool. That’s fine by me. You have every right to believe what you believe, as do I. As does anyone. In fact, start your own blog so you can whine about a redheaded female writer/consultant who dares to express her own opinion. Just don’t tell me what I should or shouldn’t write and I’ll happily return the favor.

SYLVIA PLATH

Yes, a guy a male author, was livid — as in SCREAMING AT ME IN ALL CAPS — for daring to quote Plath. Apparently, he has quite an issue with the ‘spoiled, rich dead poet,’ and felt that I had no right to quote her. Whatever your feelings are regarding Plath (or any writer), what is the point of going off on a fellow writer for sharing something that resonated with them personally? (The quote was about depression, which interestingly, knows no class barriers, and besides, she wasn’t rich growing up — or even from her work…but I let it go lol.)

Why lash out? Why not just unfollow? I don’t know.

Maybe he felt better after he was done ranting. *shrug*

SOCIAL MEDIA

I posted something on Facebook and a guy said: are you ever NOT on Facebook? I’m sick of seeing your updates.

Of course! But, why does he care?

Social media is my business, so of course I share (much of it scheduled) a lot of content: articles, promotions, pictures, quotes — not all about me, mostly tips and promotion of others. I’m also managing multiple client pages, connecting with readers, bloggers and reviewers, and chatting with many influencers.

Did he probably take the time to see what I’m posting before spouting off? No. And I wouldn’t expect him to. People check in quickly on Facebook or Twitter, on our way to other things. He’s right, in that I do post a lot of content — mostly scheduled via Hootsuite and Pluggio, because I can’t possibly be all places at once.

I could’ve been a smartass about all that, but I wasn’t. It’s just not worth it. I politely thanked him for his perspective.

THE LESSON?

Take nothing personally. Everyone has their own agenda, whether it’s simply to watch cat videos or to discuss one’s love or hatred of Nutella. We don’t really know, do we? Unless we know that person in real life, they are truly a mystery. We only see a tiny part of that person, their persona, if you will. If they have a bad day and take it out on us, does that mean we have to jump into it with them, or go hide and cry in a corner because someone is ‘mean?’

If you find yourself having a bad day, or feeling that the pressure of social media is just too much, shut it off. Walk away. Talk to your dog. Play with your toes.

Social media will still be there when you get back.