As more people follow your blog, twitter stream, Facebook page, or forum posts do you change the message or the way you talk? Understandably we all have to use different voices depending on the audience. We don’t, or at least shouldn’t, address our grandparents in the same way that we talk to our young friends. And we certainly shouldn’t be talking to the people at work in the same way that we talk to our children – trust me, I have tried it and it isn’t pretty.
The question remains though, do you significantly change your message? If all of a sudden I become aware that some relatively important people are now reading my twits on Twitter, is it appropriate or even wise to change the way I use that medium or what I am saying on it?
On one hand, they must have followed me for a reason. So, if I change to make myself more serious or less controversial then perhaps I am changing away from what they were looking for. On the other hand, maybe they didn’t know what they were getting themselves in to. Maybe I need to clean up my act so that I am more “acceptable” to these people and can hopefully keep them around as followers so that I can get my message out. But then, is it my message if I have changed for them?
Again, you are going to dress up for a job interview, you are going to be quiet in a library, and you are not going to curse around a minister. But, you went into those situations knowing that you would moderate your behavior. If someone enters your environment, of their own will and knowing what lies there, do you change to suit them, or to what you think suits them?
What are your thoughts? I really need to hear you on this one. And thanks for following along!
