Should we, at all?
In a recent Twitter conversation I was having with a few Twitter-regulars (who else!), one of them remarked, ‘Such kids, we are!’.
It’s an interesting quip, on many levels.
Back when there was no social media, our social circle, in real life, was decidedly smaller. We had friends from school, with whom – if we were still in touch – we were more casual and without guards. We remember how we were when we were in school and share more things naturally.
But, at the same time, we do not share the same things with our office colleagues and people who report to us. The lack of social media allowed us to build and maintain that facade.
Today, things are vastly different.
I already use Twitter to check if someone I need to get in touch with, is active/online. It’s as simple as noticing his last tweet time and assuming (mind you…only assuming) that he’s online/active. Another friend recently talked about how he used Twitter to check if someone he wanted to get in touch with had finished his vacation. He was tracking the other person’s non-vacation vs vacation tweets to come to a rudimentary conclusion.
Now, extrapolate the same thing with acting our ages.
You may be the CEO of a company. On Twitter, you may have your own set of pals and share info on how you find a new actress cute, but not-so-hot. I wonder how that could be ‘used’ by someone who reports to you or simply someone who is supposed to look upto you. On Facebook, it’s slightly better, if you have done your homework on your privacy settings!
The wall is broken now, thanks to social media. And what you share is accessible by anyone/everyone. Does the fact that they know more about you change their behavior towards you? Even if you portray the serious, professional outlook face of yours, a quick tweet check will help them understand a LOT more about you, which could perhaps give them an idea that your serious, professional outlook face is…well, just a workplace-facade.
Does that worry you?
I, personally, do not have a problem. I’m usually the same, everywhere, across all ages of people I interact with. That helps. But again, for people who genuinely have a reason to put up a facade for a specific purpose/place, this could pose an problem, I assume. What do you think?