Dealing With Social Media Remorse - A New Syndrome For Our Era

I think every single one of us has, at one time or another, said something that we regretted. Maybe we said it to a friend of a friend of the person we were mad at, and it got back to them. Or maybe, it was that time you were angry and said some things in the heat of it that you wish you could take back. It can make you feel awful, and unfortunately, there are people who have this happen to them all of the time. Perhaps they have problems filtering what they are feeling before it comes out of their mouths. But, at the worst, only a few other people would be within earshot when they said it. But now, thanks to social networking sites and micro-blogging platforms like Facebook and Twitter, a lapse in judgment can quickly reach many, many people.

New technology is great, but it has its draw-backs. It is easier than ever to share information and stay connected with the people they care about. But, on the other side, it makes it easy to embarrass yourself on a very large scale.

TechRepublic recently reported on this new “Social Media Remorse” issue. Here are a few of the things they found out:

• 32% of people surveyed say they’ve posted something online they regretted.
• Of that 32%: 3% say it ruined their marriage or relationship with someone. 6% of them said it caused problems at work or home.
• Of that 32%: 13% were able to remove the offending post.
• 59% of iPhone users have posted something online they regretted.
• 54% of people under 25 years old have posted something online they regretted.
• Only 27% of people over age 25 have posted something online they regretted.

It doesn't surprise me in the least that so many people under 25 have reported having posted something online that they regret. When I was in my teens and early twenties, I can think of many times I lost my temper or just wasn't mature enough to keep my mouth shut. But luckily, it wasn't as easy for everyone else to find out. Even when I did have access to the internet, anything I was likely to write wouldn't be nearly as easily accessible as it is now, when status updates and Twitter feeds can be delivered straight to people's mobile phones.

Perhaps their needs to be a device on smartphones that checks a users sobriety level or heart rate and won't allow them to post until they are sober and calm. But, until that happens, it is still a good idea to invest in an actual paper journal, and write down all the questionable tweets and updates you want to post and give them a few hours before you actually post them online. Leaving yourself with a buffer can keep you from suffering the ill effects of “social media remorse”.

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By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer, along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.