I think you know the rest of this phrase. Yet for some reason, it seems many people have forgotten this lesson they learned as a child, especially when it comes to online communication.

When major events happen, people increasingly turn to social media to express their feelings. In many cases these social media posts are insightful, productive and even inspiring. But sometimes we see deeply offensive and hurtful tweets and Facebook posts.

After last week's election, I told my Facebook friends that I needed a 24-hour break from the site because of the awful things people were saying.  And, to be honest, the break was kind of nice.

Although we assume some level of privacy accompanies our online interactions, we can’t be too careful about the things we say. There’s been a lot of talk in the news lately about people whose online statements lead to serious consequences. Take this woman whose racist post about President Obama caused termination from her job at Cold Stone.

Some people hold on to the notion that whatever they say lacks real consequence because it’s just the Internet. This view couldn’t be more wrong. In fact, with the Internet becoming more and more pervasive in our real lives, it’s more crucial than ever before to mind your P's and Q's.

Brands who utilize social media in their marketing and public relations efforts should scrutinize the things they say as carefully as they would their answers to a reporter in a media interview. After all, social networks are designed to be broadcast media. Twitter’s terms of use are clear:  “This license is you authorizing us to make your Tweets available to the rest of the world and to let others do the same. We encourage and permit the broad re-use of content.”

If you’re even the slightest bit concerned that what you’re about to post to your social media accounts might get you in trouble, it’s probably best to not say anything at all.

 

Author: <a href="http://www.snappconner.com/abram-jones">Abram Jones</a>&nbsp;| <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/105819295919308810429" rel="author">Google+</a> <!--EndFragment--></p>