Guilt By Association or Perception
April 23, 2021
The dynamics and importance of perception separates the casual posting on social media from the business of marketing.
We can agree social media is a digital platform to create an snapshot of you, your company, or message. BUT the angle or viewpoint of your images and posts create a MASSIVE portfolio which employers and business prospects are now routinely judging you by. They are profiling. The mishap of guilt-by-association should not create a complete block in your participation in posting or acknowledging anything on social media; but rather a system of caution or written caveats should be in place. What has become the hub of human interaction has for many a seemingly massive downside. Or does it?
Twenty years ago community interaction was based on our families, neighbors, place of worship, gym or country club, and even work. The content of that interaction had for the most part a life-cycle. What is posted on the internet now seems to have a unending potential of surfacing; which is at a minimum intrusive and in the worst case poised to be destructive in the wrong hands, the content, and situation; which the acceptance of the latter two is a moving target based on what society deems appropriate at any given time.
The Covid-19 in 2020 shutdown has shown us how the e-community has a purpose but the tangible and traditional communities provide benefits which cannot be undermined:
- Hugs – physical affirmation
- Inflection – Concern, joviality, empathy, spontaneity, and elation
- Instant Gratification – hugs, shared meals, coffee klatch, tea & sweets,
- Growth – accountability, children aging, knowledge, share & tell changes
- Timely progress – sharing knowledge based on working alongside someone – mentoring
- Fruitful labor – Garden growth: tastiness, aroma, visual challenge
- Limited Platform – most of us never had a large audience to share our harsh thoughts which are opinions gone awry; and what we say in secret, in confidence, is hopefully a calculated decision. Unlike social media which has no parameters to limit an explosive distribution.
And so as we return to life before Covid with a greater appreciation of the value of tangible communication and expressions. Be content, consistent, and irreputable in what you present.
