Sean’s Digs

If you don’t like my Status Updates, Don’t Read Them

A while ago I posted an update to twitter, which fed into a facebook status update, saying something like “Screw you rite-Aid, for being incompetent and being jerks about it. You’ll never see me again.” Several people responded with different things. One person even asked if it was a specific Rite-Aid! I also had someone say something like “I am sorry you had a bad experience bro, but where is the forgiveness.”

Now, that might seem weird to some people. Personally, I appreciate friends helping me to be a better person. Also, I am a christian. This blog isn’t “about” Christianity, but I am not hiding it or anything. The person who made that comment happened to be christian as well, and was concerned about how angry I was in my statement. Which is what I wanted to talk about. I think it is great for people to tell you when you are off base, or being a jerk, or over the top. Many people see your communications on facebook - friends, family, co-workers, employers, and I want to make sure that I am putting my best face forward.

I also want to be genuine. Having a mobile device gives an opportunity to post things as they happen. Pretty cool, I think. But maybe there are some negatives. Walking out of Rite-Aid after bad service 20 years ago you might say to the person next to you that that was awful. Now you can say it to all of your online friends/followers/readers! Pretty cool, unless you say something stupid.

The same day a similar thing happened to my cousin. She updated facebook that it sucks when people come into the bank 3 minutes before closing and have really complicated transactions that cause her to after work later than she otherwise would have. Someone commented that is was horrible for my cousin to complain about having a job when the commenter wished she had a job, etc, etc. I think that my cousin was in a similar situation to mine. We said something, someone else took it badly, and reacted wrongly.

Note that I am not saying that someone saying something you posted was bad is always wrong. I am saying that you need to be careful when doing that. The fact that in both cases the commenter deleted their comments communicates to me some kind of regret in what they said.

In my cousin’s case I think the person commented when they were already in an emotional state. I don’t know them, maybe they just got laid off. Maybe they were feeling extra discouraged at that time. But they went off on a crazy rant, and I am pretty sure they regretted it.

In my case, I think the person commented without thinking it through. I found out later from a private message that this person had an issue with the word screw. Or scr*w as they wrote it in the message. I guess they consider it a curse word and it showed that I was under extreme anger. Obviously I didn’t think so. Anyone who knows me or reads my writing knows that I am not big on using curse words, or even medium. But this did remind me that different people have different interpretations of what a curse word is. Some people have issues with the word crap. Or cr*p, if I want to be extra careful.

If the commenter had taken the time to talk to me before making a public comment they would have found out more of the story. Maybe the amount of anger I had was justified for what I experienced. Maybe the didn’t understand the actual amount of anger I had. I think it would be a good idea for people to think about what they are saying, before saying it. Examine your motives. Get the whole story before speaking into a situation. In both cases a little thought and meditation before commenting would have gone a long way.

I didn’t write this to call out or embarrass those commenter. I just thought that there were a lot of missteps. These events happened a few months ago. I am not trying to dredge up the past or hold grudges, I am trying to take my own advice of thinking before speaking.

I did learn from this experience though. I need to be careful what I write, because there are people out there just looking for a reason to criticize you. Maybe out of attempts to help, or maybe they are just negative people. BUt someone is always willing to step up and complain.

In any case, if you don’t like my facebook, twitter, friendfeed, blog, or whatever posts, you don’t have to read them.

Posted in: Society, Technology

This entry was posted on Monday, October 5th, 2009 at 7:58 am and is filed under Society, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.