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Do You Censor Yourself on Social Media?
By Joyce Dierschke | March 12, 2009
It came up just the other day – someone emailed me a video that had an obvious political slant. I thought it was interesting and entertaining, so of course, my first reaction was to post it on my Facebook Page (They make it quite easy to do this – YouTube offers several options to share on your social media pates with just one click…one simple click…too easy?). I was just about to click on the “post” button when I a thought entered my head: Maybe not.
My Facebook Friends include friends, family, acquaintances, a few people I don’t know all that well, colleagues and clients. It’s not that I’m ashamed of my political views, quite the opposite actually. And I would have loved to share this video with the majority of my “friends”, but I began to think about the clients that are in my “friends”.
Now don’t get the wrong idea – there was nothing obscene or truly bad about this video, but it definitely leans to one side. Its not that I don’t want or even care, frankly, if anyone knows my political views. But I do understand that many topics, politics especially, can be very emotionally -more so I think, lately. I wouldn’t want to offend anyone or have them think I am some sort of radical…do you see where I’m going with this? Its not that I would offend anyone, but the possibility – remote as it was – stopped me from posting the video.
So I began to think – do others censor themselves on social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blogs, etc.? The whole idea of Web 2.0 and social media is transparency – but does that mean that you should say and post whatever you want? Or because of the neverending/everlasting network that is the Internet, do we need to be even more careful about what we say and post?
My decision was not to post the video. But I wonder if that was the right thing to do or not. After all, it wasn’t incendiary, at least I don’t believe it was. I didn’t want to take the chance – and it was mostly my clients that I was concerned with – of someone thinking, “oh Joyce has those political views does she? well, since I don’t agree, I think I’ll find a new copywriter.” Actually, sounds silly now that I’ve written it out!
Still, I think it brings up a valid point about how we portray ourselves on line. Do we build specific on line personas? Or should we just be ourselves completely? And if we are not truly ourselves on line, what does that mean for social media transparency?
Have you ever censored yourself when using social media? Or do you believe that it is an anything goes medium? Perhaps you fall somewhere in the middle? Let me know your thoughts!
Topics: Blogging, Facebook, LinkedIn, Social Marketing, Twitter, web 2.0, word of mouth marketing | 16 Comments »
March 13th, 2009 at 12:34 am
I do edit many of my posts based on the wide variety of people I have as friends on Facebook.
I run the local chapter of my alumni association. I don’t want to turn off members that I’ve “friended” by being too political or too opinionated on any one subject.
March 13th, 2009 at 12:35 am
I absolutely censor. Something that I do is keep my friends and my business associates separate. What you share with friends may not be appropriate for business and visa versa. My friends don’t care about any business articles or materials. They want to know the “fun” stuff. That’s fine. For instance, my Facebook is strictly for friends (although I have a page on network blogs for business which is different from a profile) and I use Twitter mainly for business. This helps understand where and with whom I share content with.
March 13th, 2009 at 12:40 am
Most of the time I don’t censor myself on the internet, I believe the beauty of all types of internet outlets is the freedom of expression, communication and the free flowing exchange of ideas.
However, to protect certain personal life details I do take full advantage of Facebook’s privacy settings and the option of friendlist so I can have control over who can see what I publish/comment/post on my profile.
March 13th, 2009 at 12:43 am
Yep, I sure do censor myself. My blog is a mommy-blog whose intended audience is my son (some day), so I try to use appropriate language there. Mostly. Except when I fail.
As for Facebook, etc, I’ve followed your same thought process exactly — cool! wanna share! no wait! crap, I guess not — for the same basic reason. I don’t have friends who are clients, but I do have friends who are colleagues (I joined FB for a work project, after all). So I stay away from incendiary topics.
But then, I also don’t post about some other things because of the “real” friends on there… Work stuff that would be boring to 90% of my friends or personal stuff that could hurt someone’s feelings or whatever.
I have two core reasons: some stuff is sensitive/private and social media’s definition of “friend” is not the same as mine.
March 13th, 2009 at 12:53 am
I think we all have different personas – at work with our colleagues, at home with our families, out with our friends. The same goes on-line. My Linkedin page is more professional, I would not share political views there as there may be potential clients that I don’t want to alienate or offend.
On my facebook, I will be a little more casual and open and maybe more expressive. But I follow the Golden Rule of Facebook – never post anything that you wouldn’t want anyone else to see (i.e. employers, potential clients, your mom and dad, etc.).
On Twitter, I stay pretty much professional, but will throw some of my personal views on there whether controversial or not, just to be more personable and fun.
March 13th, 2009 at 1:04 am
I suspect there’s a lot of self-censoring in one particular sector: everyone who’s looking to make a work connection seems to deny doing poorly financially. They all seem to think that either there’s not much difference from last year, or they’re taking advantage of temporary circumstances, and thinking, jeez, maybe recessions should come more often! I think most of them are hurting, and concerned how it’ll look to potential clients to go whining on Twitter, or wherever. I won’t call it lying; self-censoring is more polite.
March 13th, 2009 at 5:23 am
Funny
Although I do not intentially censor myself, i use different applications for diffrent reasons. Since I use Facebook for my family and friends, i talk about everyday stuff. Mostly my baby 
However on linkedin, I am all business. I am new to twitter.The reason why i join is to get exposed to industry leaders. So again it is business. I think since I look at these applications ina strict way, i do not censor myself 
March 13th, 2009 at 6:54 am
“Actually, sounds silly now that I’ve written it out!”
Not really Joyce! After all, it is your livelihood and some folks are VERY passionate about their views and ideas! So much so that they would allow seemingly innocuous differences to interfere with a mutually beneficial business relationship? Based on human history, I’d say yeah!
I do sensor for the sake of others however!
March 14th, 2009 at 2:21 am
I am definitely outspoken and I use my real name. Sometimes I think I should open up an alias account on twitter when I spout my political beliefs. One day it may come back to haunt me, but I guess so have many other things.
March 14th, 2009 at 2:37 am
I totally censor myself. Things can be taken out of context and rather than risk that, I feel that it is easier to self-censor.
However, I must admit that things are lighter on my FB page than in my tweets, blog or linkedin discussions.
March 14th, 2009 at 2:48 am
I find myself censoring what I say more and more. Just today I had a pretty clever thought about this inane meeting I was in, and went to post on my status. Then I thought, what if XXXX (higher up) sees this. So I kept watering it down until it lost all humor and specificity. Then I thought he’d think why was I wasting time on Facebook during a meeting.
I closed it. This happens all the time. Then I think how I should put him and a few others in a separate list. And then think about how easy it is to notice if you do that.
Then the thought someone might have about having been blocked
March 14th, 2009 at 2:49 am
… Then the feeling someone might have about having been blocked could actually be worse than what anything you said could have caused.
March 16th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
Joyce:
Excellent point. I’m surprised this issue isn’t more discussed. It’s the main reason that I think identity and friend management is so important to “get right” in the years ahead. (My initial thoughts on the subject related to the Facebook/Open ID issue are here: http://www.member-to-member.net/2009/02/personal-identity-management-takes-a-major-step-forward.html)
And yes, I censor myself all the time. It’s the main reason that my social media “self” isn’t the same as my “rw self.” Thanks for bringing this up for discussion!
Dana
March 16th, 2009 at 8:34 pm
Yes, I censor myself on social media. I maintain separate net presences for personal and work-related purposes. On the personal side, many of my friends are young relatives, some preteen. Naturally, I edit what I put on my personal site to not unduly offend or alarm the children. My work-related site is carefully non-political and non-religious. I am not indifferent to either politics or religion, but some people are extremely emotional regarding these issues. I need to be able to work with people across the political spectrum and of various religious persuasions. This is easiest if I am perceived as blandly neutral. Or at least quietly neutral.
March 17th, 2009 at 11:23 pm
The answers to this question seem to divide into two camps,1) those for caution, and 2) those for free expression. This may be a false choice. If you are in business, you need to understand your clients and how they may react to postings. You also need to know yourself and how concerned you are with their reactions. If your client base tends toward the conservative, then be careful by all means. However, self-censorship can lead to being boring or irrelevant. Do you want people to read what you write? Given that younger generations are now taking hold of the business world, you may find that your customers have a higher tolerance for irreverence.
August 24th, 2009 at 8:23 am
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