Passions That Pay

10 responses so far ↓

• 1 Jenn Givler // Sep 9, 2008 at 12:34 pm

  oooo – good questions Katherine. Hmmm… well, I’m a big proponent of staying true to yourself in business, and building relationships with the people that need what you offer… so I suppose there’s something to be said about expressing your views if you feel that internal pull to go ahead and do it.

  However, I believe for myself, I really don’t want the extra added drama in my life that would come with expressing some opinion that developed for me in the heat of the moment… like let’s say the political opposition does something I don’t agree with, I turn around a Tweet some snarky tweet – and then that leaves me open to all sorts of responses…

  Another side of that is too, do I want people to make a judgment about me based on what I Tweet in the heat of the moment? No, not really.

  Yes, I have opinions on things, but I also want to help and be in service. And I don’t want my political views to get in the way of that.

  Because deep down, I’m extremely tolerant, very open-minded, and love to share the world with all sorts of people – and I don’t want someone to discount themselves from getting the help they need from me based on one moment of snarkiness.

  So, personally, I would not Tweet or blog about those types of things.

  Now… coming from the other side… if people attempt to shove their opinions at me (whether I agree or disagree…) that can be a huge turn-off too, and I may stop following them.

  Jenn Givlers last blog post..3 Ways To Market Your Business

• 2 Gina // Sep 9, 2008 at 12:44 pm

  wow, was that a coincidence or intentional that you twittered this link a minute after my what-could-be-considered political tweet? I’ve often questioned this.. my business is not political, but my platform is unabashedly about peace. I used to keep that low-key, until Kelly McCausey made the statement about having a platform. Maybe this isn’t what she meant, but I see my peaceful stance as being inextricably tied in with my business philosophy. Is twitter the place for it? And am I worried I’ll lose followers? I don’t know. I wouldn’t stop following someone for that reason if they also offered something of value. That’s been the case already.

  Ginas last blog post..The New Rules of Posture

• 3 Tammy Munson // Sep 9, 2008 at 12:53 pm

  I’m a big believer in transparency… what you see is what you get.

  I try not to get too political on twitter because I have a mix of business and personal contacts on there.

  Although occassionally, I throw a comment out there about my political persuasion or if someone specificially asks for my thoughts on tha particular topic.

  Instead of yammering on about politics and other topics on twitter, I generally move the conversation to my personal blog, ArmyHousehold6 , so that way you aren’t forced to read/listen to it if you don’t want too.

  I think this should be the same thing for some of the “conversations” that happen on Twitter. I mean some are fun and definitely gets people talking. However, there have been some lately that should DEFINITELY be taken to IM , the phone, etc.

  Ok I’m off my soapbox for the moment….

  Tammy

  Tammy Munsons last blog post..Is Twitter part of your marketing plan?

• 4 Jan Tallent // Sep 9, 2008 at 1:14 pm

  I believe that often times the people we choose to follow or who choose To follow US are the types we should be able to be ourselves with but also feel we can do so tactfully if it is a hot subject in *real life*. I discuss those taboo things with both friends and people I just know, in the real world, to a point and can do so without starting a war or hurting feelings and if we do this online as well, it should be ok to disagree or embrace the way others feel without it being a problem. Just remember, everything we do and say ONLINE is archived somewhere and I say respond accordingly. I have not yet UN followed someone who disagrees with me as long as they do so respectfully and appreciate seeing the different opinions, actually.

• 5 Jill Rapley // Sep 9, 2008 at 1:34 pm

  This is indeed an interesting subject. To do or not to do.

  There is a lot of twittering going on some of which I have read or at least scanned.

  It seems there are at least 4 categories of twitters who tweet on these taboo subjects, politics of course being one of the strongest at the moment.

  The stirrers – those who throw out a comment just to get a reaction.

  The alerters (think that’s a new word. It is permitted in Spanish to invent new words, but perhaps not in English Those who throw out a comment to alert of something we should know about and at least consider.

  The grippers. This is a hate group. I noticed that the other night especially when a link to a video was sent to prove a point and oh my, back came the hate comments.

  The peacemakers – I’m staying out of this is one extreme of this group. Then there are those who try and add positive comments to balance all the negative stuff, but their aim is still to bring peace.

  I think that’s a good group to belong to.

  Add a comment that will bring a positive balance.

  Definitely stand for what you believe in, but it is not necessary to push it on others. If there is an outrageous comment that it totally against your belief’s, I think it good to answer in a polite, calm but firm way.

  If the “taboo” thing is more personal, that’s what the DM is for

  Above all we should not measure our communication with the thought “will I lose followers”. If you do, they were never your real followers in the first place.

  Well — enough said.

  Look forward to reading more comments

  Jill

  Jill Rapleys last blog post..The Distractions Factor

• 6 Beverly Mahone // Sep 9, 2008 at 1:40 pm

  As a journalist, I know that politics can be ugly and divisive. I have friends on Twitter that I know think the extreme opposite of me but I don’t let their opinions affect my interaction with them. It comes down to how you treat each other. I may differ with you in your opinion on a particular subject but if I allow that opinion to sway how I feel about you as a human being than I’m pretty small-minded and vice versa.

  There’s one lady I have actually come to respect even more–in spite of her opinions. I told her we can disagree as long as we do it with dignity and class.

  Beverly Mahones last blog post..The Difference between Sarah Palin’s Daughter and Mine

• 7 Marc Norris // Sep 9, 2008 at 2:20 pm

  As a business owner, I feel that it is important that I remain neutral in all things. I got this ideal from my father who owns his own accounting business.

  I had to ask him once why we never had political signs on our lawn during an election to say which party we supported (we live in Canada).

  He told me that as a business, he needed to come across as neutral so as to not offend anyone. He also told me that it really didn’t matter what his client’s religion or political beliefs were as these had no bearing on whether or not they were his clients.

  So that is what I believe and how I act online. Sure, I joke around and maybe talk about my kids a bit, but what I believe in terms of politics, religion, etc. really has no place in my conversations online.

  p.s. While on the topic of taboo, maybe you could do a post on business owners having pictures on Facebook of them drinking… I bet most of them don’t consider the implications that those images can have on their business.

  Marc

  Marc Norriss last blog post..One Year Since my Last Day of Work

• 8 Leigh Ann Hubbard // Sep 9, 2008 at 3:57 pm

  Oh, man, I’m so glad you brought this up.

  Some of the political tweets have gotten mean, divisive and/or nasty, and I’ve stopped following people because of it.

  I think it depends on why you’re on Twitter. If it’s for business, expressing political views can lose you business. Personally, I’m a health editor, so I strive to focus my tweets–including political ones–on health. They’re meant to help people learn the facts; that’s it.

  I don’t go on Twitter to have my opinions attacked, and I don’t go on to attack others’. It’s a nice, friendly place for me, and I strive to keep it that way–by unfollowing if necessary.

  Thank you for addressing this. One hundred forty characters can get quite nasty.

  Leigh Ann Hubbard
  Managing Editor
  James Hubbard’s My Family Doctor

• 9 Sharon // Sep 9, 2008 at 4:03 pm

  Every now and then I will comment on what I believe in as far as politics or religion if I see a conversation going on, I guess it’s a personal choice. If your on Twitter for business reasons I don’t think it’s wise to be taking things as far as I see some doing, I think they’re only defeating their own purpose.

• 10 April // Sep 10, 2008 at 7:22 pm

  I’ve participated in some political discussion on Twitter, particularly during the DNC/RNC. But other than that, I don’t discuss politics much but just enough that its pretty clear who I’m voting for.

  I have had one discussion that we kept in DM conversation. It wasn’t heated or anything, the person is a good friend of mine and on the opposite side of the political fence. But we both have the same opinions about discussing it publicly so we talked (and joked) about it privately.

  The only problem I’ve had is that stupid Twitterfeed will NOT delete the feed from my personal blog so a link to a political post on my blog showed up on Twitter. It was nothing major, just my opinions on Palin’s qualifications or lack thereof and how her family should NOT be a topic of discussion.

  I’ve only been offended once by political posts on Twitter and it wasn’t a matter of opinions but of expression. Just nasty attacks – videos, editorial cartoons – attacking one of the candidates. Between that and the fact that all this person’s tweets consists of “me, me, me” stuff and very few replies to others, they were removed from my list pretty quickly.

  Aprils last blog post..The New American Dream