Last week I posted the above photo to my Facebook page. I was stunned to come across it. The sunrise was beautiful and my proximity to the one goose was pretty close. A cold morning, but a fun photo.
What did I learn? Not everyone sees things the same way I do. The majority of the comments were about how bad the weather was or the pending amount of goose poop in this area!
Now listen, I have nothing against anyone who commented on the photo. My caption of “Wow!” seemed limited. So I guess people took the “Wow!” in their own way. I truly did appreciate the variety of responses. It was instructive to me.
The lesson here? Let’s try two:
1. Things are interpreted by different people in their own way. Social media is limited and this is one tiny example of why.
2. When you make something public, you open yourself up to feedback you may not have intended. Be okay with that.
Think. How often do you consider someone’s intentions when you view something on social media? Or, do you think of your reaction before their intentions?
Act. Be realistic in what you want out of social media and be ready for reactions that may surprise you.