I’m on Facebook and I post more than I should. Yet, I try to avoid posting in the local community newsgroups. I always jokingly say that I thought I loved in a nice place until I joined the community newsgroups.
There are quite a few things that annoy me about the community newsgroups. The person who posts, asking for a medical opinion from non-doctors and complete strangers is always a winner. The people who to attack those with different opinions are always classic. One of my favorites is the posts where people want validation. The perfect example is when someone orders takeout or eats at a local restaurant, and then complains about something that doesn’t go their way. Usually, the “critic” posts without actually complaining to the restaurant first. They dod this because they want validation for their feelings, rather than just giving a bad review. There are many times where service was slow at a restaurant or the food wasn’t up to par, but I didn’t feel the need to post my two cents online because nothing is perfect and like any business, restaurants can have a day off. I wouldn’t post a bad review because non-chain restaurants always struggle and who cares what my opinion is? I’m not exactly a New York Times food critic. If I had bad service in a restaurant, it was bad service. It wasn’t bad service because people validated my feelings.
I post to social media to start a conversation, usually about an aspect of retirement plan law that I want to highlight and develop my reputation in the business. I don’t need my feelings validated. If a service provider did bad by a client of mine, I’m not going to complain publicly. I don’t need to publicly hurt businesses and spread the bad word.
The irony of this article is I’m posting my opinion and seeking some sort of validation by you reading this, but I always love good irony.
