Ranting on social media seems to be the rage nowadays. If you are unhappy about a service, you post it up on Facebook. If you want to push an opinion across, you tweet fervently about it. Online bashing seemed acceptable to many without much thought of its consequences.
In an article “Social media rants do more harm than good”, the Institute of Customer Service reported an eight fold increase of complaints made on social media from 2014 to 2015. The figures for 2016, will undoubtedly be higher.
For many good years, people used to just communicate personally; face-to-face, to the other party over any dissatisfaction. The embarrassment was contained to just both the parties involved. Now, with the social media, the whole world gets to know about it! The good, of course, will be keeping service providers on their toes all the time. Thus, ensuring consumers experience top quality service and maximum satisfaction. The bad and the ugly? Often than not, these rants and slanderous comments cause irreparable damage to one’s reputation.
How then, can we rant responsibly, if there ever was such a thing to begin with?
I read a post by a recruiter recently on a popular networking site on how a prospect snubbed her for offering a much lower pay from his current earnings. Her followers were quick to jump in claiming how wrong, arrogant and disrespectful this man was to the recruiter. But the tone she wrote was equally condescending. How can she dissed her prospect? How can she enjoy reading the callous comments she received from her followers? Did they actually know the other side of the story? Have they given a thought about the prospect’s reputation?
Let’s intentionally be more responsible with what we write, post and tweet. The words we choose and the tone we use reflect who we are as a person. Be good. Be kind.
The pen is indeed mightier than the sword.
Write Synergy 