“But I Was Just Joking…” | The UpGo Social Media “Rule of Thumbs”: Stay Away From the Gray
Have you ever said or posted something, and it made someone upset? And you thought to yourself, “That person’s overreacting. I didn’t mean it that way.” Or, “Gee, I was just joking!”
Communication, especially online, can so easily be misinterpreted.
If so, you were probably playing in, “the gray area.” And that’s risky!
That phrase, “That’s in the gray area,” you probably know, is referring to a continuum, where you have white on one side, representing clearly “good” decisions, and black on the other end, representing clearly “bad” decisions or actions.
The challenge is, there’s a bunch of stuff in middle, in this “gray area,” that can be tough to judge whether it’s good or bad, or where reasonable people might disagree.
If you’re about to say anything that’s negative, critical, blaming, gossipy, or, anything that has to do with someone else’s private matters… pause for a second, and ask yourself these two questions:
- What’s my intent? Why am I really sending this? Like, ultimately, I am trying to help them, or hurt ’em a little bit, take them down a notch. And,
- How might my message be interpreted by others? Including others that it might be forwarded to!
It may not seem fair, but…
It matters less, what you intend, and more, how others interpret it.
So, catch yourself, when you’re about to send something, and you get that uneasy feeling. Or, you’re thinking to yourself, “Boy, I sure hope this doesn’t get forwarded.” Or, “I hope they don’t take my sarcasm the wrong way.”
YOU are in control of your thumbs.
So, remember to use the:
UpGo Social Media Rule of Thumbs:
Stay Away From the Gray (Area); Error on the Side of GOODNESS.
Think of the Rule of Thumbs before posting anything negative, critical, blaming, gossipy or private.
Remember: “If you play in the gray, be prepared to pay.”
Thanks for thinking about this stuff, and for making good decisions!