I’m going to start off this blog post by officially stating that this will be one of the more ironic and/or hypocritical posts I will write**; but it’s for good cause.

Everyone uses social media in different ways. This is one of the great things about it, in that you can cater your content to follow and associate with others as you please. You can post what you want, say what you want, do what you want, and unless you have a strict job or  a high public status, you can get away with it.

This being said, I’ve noticed that social media outlets lately (specifically Twitter and Facebook) have been used to “vent” or “lash out” complaints to everybody and nobody in particular to see. Many of us have been guilty of an occasional emotional Tweet or angry Facebook post, but what’s happening now is that these outlets have become the main source of stress relief and attention-grabbing messages from unsettled individuals.
scream and shout

Social Media as a Tool

Yes, social media is in fact designed for people to be “social” with one another via the Internet. However if timelines or streams are being filled up with angry messages about car salesmen while car shopping or daily posts on how you “still don’t have a Valentine for Valentine’s day,” and “are going to be so lonely and mad” (really saw this every day over the course of a week) you’re not getting (or giving) much “value” out of your social media.

Elaine Young (@ejyoung67) was a college professor of mine at Champlain College. She is incredibly well versed in the social media and digital marketing worlds and has offered up great tips well before the social media craze hit. The one rule of thumb that has resonated with me for a personal Twitter account is the 80/20 Rule. Keep 80% of your content professional and 20% personal interest. I’m guilty of breaking this and usually hit a 60/40 average, but I try to keep my personal tweeting interesting to the audience that follows me.

The Impact of Negative Posting

What most people may not realize when they post complaints or diatribes to the social media sphere, is that although it may feel good to release some steam, everyone will see what you’re saying and not all will react the way you want them to. Once you hit send, it will be available on the Internet forever, regardless of privacy settings or deletions of posts. This could come back to bite you in a job hunt situation (I don’t want to hire someone who’s constantly mad/could be a disruptive team member) or even as simple as your friends thinking “Ehh, I’ll stay away from you for a little while until all of the venting goes away.” Whether you know it or not, negative posting brings down the morale of your followers.

The Exception to the Rule

If a situation does arise where some sort of complaint is needed, do it in a constructive way. I had a situation where there was a mishap with a FedEx delivery to my house and I was not too pleased with their service. I tweeted directly mentioning @FedEx (so not all my followers could see) and a representative helped me out while resolving the situation. Companies, brands, or friends won’t respond well to someone yelling via social media, but rather to someone who can articulate specifically what they need and why they are upset with you.

Sure, it may be as simple as hitting “unfollow” or “hide posts from news feed” to not be affected by these types of posts, but it takes away from why you connected to this person in the first place; they had some sort of value or insight to you. Don’t let your emotions jam the tap that leads to your great ideas, resources, or wit. Social media should be used as a way to share helpful information. Let’s try to keep our feeds informational, upbeat, humorous, thought-provoking or useful in order to contribute well to our social media worlds.

**Post written due to personal observations over the last month or so. May be considered complaining about complaints, but hopefully this was useful to the reader.