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You are so vain, you probably think this post is about you. Which is why I want your opinions and suggestions.

Today I had a topic I wanted to write but decided not to and instead decided to write about why. I love the irony of writing an article to share widely about why you shouldn't participate in sharing/liking things.

I've seen many posts from co-workers, or others on LinkedIn that were clearly sparked by some personal situation at work they were dealing with. i.e. reposting "How you know when its time to move on" type posts, or giving a thumbs up to "Your boss should appreciate you", type articles. I don't think the posters appreciate how much it can negatively affect their career prospects. When those types of things have happened in my organizations I often get reached out to by peers or superiors in the same organization for my perspective on what has been posted. Usually in the tone of "Is this person a problem?"

I like to write about a lot of topics. Leadership, technology, process improvement, Artificial intelligence, business... You name it, there is a good chance I have some thoughts on the topic and some of it is well informed. Have I ever been burned by some social media post? Yea, I asked what I thought was a mundane hr question in a forum and got informally reprimanded once. But its the ones I don't know about that worry me. Most of the time people who had similar activity in my organizations didn't even know they were being looked at as a potential discontent.

So. Here are a few guidelines I generally follow when deciding what to write about, post or even thumbs up on Linkedin.

Be active

If you do something people don't like, make them dig for it. I helped a lady who was involved in a lawsuit get a job by helping burry her lawsuit hits on google with social media activity about the positive parts of her life, It worked for her and it can work for anybody. If you make a bad post, comment, or like, delete it. Don't dig your heels in and defend it to the death. It just isn't worth it. Burry that one item that irritated people under an avalanche of positivity.

Establish a Brand

I post about data science, leadership, business, technology, process etc type topics. As a leader, its my job to teach my organization about those things. Everything I've learned as a manager and executive over the years I share with anyone willing to listen. I do training sessions and record them, and I engage regularly. So it isn't bizarre when I post articles about leadership style, organizational structures, or technology stacks.

Establish a brand that you are interested in. Join groups you believe in. Subscribe to people who are thought leaders in your space.

Two different people share the "30 Telling Signs of a Bad Boss to Look out For". One is on a management path and post regularly about management and leadership philosophy. The other.... isn't.

The one on the management path writes or shares a weekly article about management philosophy because that is the path they are on. The context is their interests and their personal brand and most likely has nothing to do with work. This person isn't defined by their current role at the organization they are in. People still might take it out of context, but much lower risk.

The person not on a management/leadership path sharing the same article will mostly likely just be perceived as discontent by his peers, managers, and other potential employers.

I have had multiple people that reported to me that posted this type of content

1. One guy that worked in my organization posted regularly about leadership philosophy. Some of it was great, some of it was at best na?ve. Peers and others in the org would often asked if he was talking about me, or our company, and it was easy to redirect them to his other posts and say "Maybe, but mostly he is just somebody really into leadership philosophy, some of it is insightful, you should take a look". By not being defensive about it I was able to minimize any general perception around him as discontent, and minimize my brand damage as a leader.
2. Others that would post 10 things I hate about my job type posts... Those I couldn't defend and it did damage to them, me, and my org. It wasn't endearing them to me, or my management chain, and the general perception they put out there is that they needed to move into a new role somewhere else. It was passive aggressive and self sabotaging. I am not sure the psychology in these situations, but I think it is like trying to break up with someone so you treat them poorly until they make the decision for you. The healthier option is just wait, get some distance and find a new role elsewhere quietly.

Know your Audience

You are posting and sharing and liking things on a billboard on the side of the road with hundreds or thousands of cars driving by that will never be taken down. Most of the time that isn't a problem, but things change and opinions shift. If the wrong person with the wrong level of influence doesn't like whatever action you took online, you may not ever know how it affected you from a promotion, job opportunity, or deleted contact perspective. Most people won't debate and discuss a topic with you. Especially important people. They just stop talking to you or answering your call. Everybody is busy, but some people more than others, and the more people want to connect to you for material reasons, the less time you have for people that did a minor thing that annoyed you.

If you must post, Use specific examples

If you are going to post about things, be specific of how/why/what/who, what you learned, what others have to learn from it.

One time, I posted to a social network about management philosophy and it was really just a leadership styles post. It didn't get much traction but people took it out of context and asked if I was talking about a specific person I worked with. So I re-wrote it and put it in the context of the movie I had just watched which sparked the post... If I had just started with that, I would have avoided their confusion and possible irritation by that manager if they thought I was being passive aggressive towards them.

Try to provide differing points of view

Avoid fundamentalist positions. Don't get into absolutes with discussions. i.e. Firing is bad, offshoring is bad, onshoring is bad etc. You may have a philosophical bent one way or the other, but the other side of the debate has reasons why they feel that way. If you think its because they are stupid and don't know the subject well, it is most likely that you are missing some key core belief, risk, etc that they have considered. It may not be valid, or the risk may not be as high as they think it is, but if you at least demonstrate your knowledge of that risk and side of the discussion you minimize alienating that side of the demographic (your boss, potential customers, job opportunities).

Keep it Positive

If you don't have anything nice to say don't say it at all. Demonstrate the positive impacts and try to steer clear of all the consequences. Don't avoid them, but don't dwell on them.

Positive spin - Good execution of social media use technique will lead to additional opportunities, influence, and hopefully material gain

Negative spin - Poor execution of these techniques will result in consequences you can't even imagine including loss of friends, family, jobs, material wealth, risk of life and limb, criminal charges or law suits, or even assassination.

Don't take passive aggressive shots

I've been in many meetings where co-works had fits and stormed out. On one of those occasions it sparked a post by me about "Leadership by example" on an internal forum which spread like wild fire through the organization I was in. My relationship with that person recovered, and they toned it down after that. This one worked out eventually but it was really awkward for a while and could have gone really bad.... Not a recommended tactic.

Get some distance

Don't talk about a recent problem at work or share/like/post articles that you relate to in your current job even if you want out. If you are discontent and you post discontent type articles that are generally critical of management, most likely you will be robbed of opportunities you didn't even know about.

If you want to post on those topics, do it after you are out of the storm, get some distance and talk about it with some perspective a few months/years later.

Share your experiences

Stick to what you know, don't talk about pie in the sky concepts that you don't understand but you like philosophically i.e. don't post about communist when you haven't ever lived in a communist country... Yes, even if you have an economics degree and a doctorate in mathematics. If you want to talk about communism and you lived in a communist country you at least have some credibility.

Talking about outsourcing or business strategy when you haven't ever had to balance a budget and hit EBITA targets/savings targets is another pet peeve of mine.

When in doubt, Keep it to yourself

Lots of risk, very little to gain, so unless you see yourself as putting out something insightful just keep it to yourself. This is your permanent record, you should manage it properly and the perception it puts out to the universe. Stay on brand.