4 Reasons not to rant on Social Media...And how to recognize it if you are!

I recently cut off a friend whose daily political rants send me an email every day. I unfriended the friend, and still received her negative comments in my twitter feeds, so I unfollowed her as well.

1.    Even if your readers agree with you politically, it’s not necessarily what is said but HOW it is said. There’s a vast difference between a political opinion or commentary and a RANT.  If you receive comments criticizing your post or giving you push back, you are probably going too far.
2.    One of the BEST writing tools that exists is the air space between your finger and the enter key!  If you feel strongly that you should post political commentary, PLEASE set it aside for a moment. Read it again before hitting enter to make sure what you say is what you want people to hear!  
3.    Your words form opinions, but possibly not how you think. Your clients, potential clients, people you work for, people who work for you, may form opinions about you based on your rant. I confess:  I don’t feel the same about this business friend who seems to spew negative political talk every day.  
4.    Count your posts! Make sure political ranting isn’t the majority of what you post.  Count your total posts for the last month and add up how many by category.  Do you also share a reasonable percentage of positive messages?  Do you add some funny or helpful posts, or industry knowledge?  If not, detox on political talk for a while and focus on positive messages, quotes, maybe even be silent for a spell!

My parents’ generation had a saying not to talk about religion or politics.  I tend to like to hear people’s ideas, but not in a debate, or an argument or an emotional tirade.  Few people’s opinions of the issues are changed by that type discussion, but their opinion of YOU might be changed!

Making the World a Better Place One Lease at a Time!
Mary Gwyn, CPM
Chief Innovator