I am a social media junkie and will admit it. I am
on Twitter,
track my Klout
score, use Hootsuite, check Linkedin & Pinterest and log
onto Facebook to browse
my Facebook groups regularly. Plus for my business there are lots of
thought leaders on Twitter
so it helps me to gain exposure.
But recently, I’ve bee finding myself more and more put
off by Facebook. They changed some timeline feature which I blatantly tried to
ignore. And I heard recent rumblings of Facebook tracking my key strokes. This
actually FREAKS me out. There is no need for Facebook to know this much about
my actions.
With the above in mind, I have made the decision
to not post as much on Facebook anymore. And it is a conscious decision for my
kids. Everything I write on Facebook is permanent. It is out there. I can’t
take it back.
Now, I am fairly tame with my comments and posts.
There are no racy photos or anything like that but when I post on Facebook it
is a snap shot of my life at a specific moment. Do I need to share this or
should I keep it private? What am I going to think about my posts in three or
four years from now? I cringe when I look back at my high school graduation
comments. Will I do the same?
More importantly, if my kids find my
posts/comments what will they think? What if I have written something snarky
about them? Sure, I can justify it; however is it appropriate to broadcast it
since I’m a parent.
A few days
ago, I learned about the acronym, THINK. It stands for T – Is it TRUE? H – Is
it HURTFUL? I – Is it ILLEGAL? N – Is it NECESSARY? K – Is it KIND?
It was originally developed to teach kids about
digital citizenship. I believe that it speaks to parents, too. Is it hurtful or
kind or necessary to post to Facebook about my life as a parent.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I like every other parent
needs to vent once in a while and sometimes Facebook is still going to be the
place I post to but I am slowly realizing that maybe I should be going out for
coffee with a girlfriend instead. It’s a much more satisfying experience and it
gets me out of the house. 🙂
So what do you think? Are you posting online as
much as you used to? Would love to know your thoughts.
