Do You Censor Yourself on Social Media?

It came up just the other day - someone emailed me a video that had an obvious political slant. I thought it was interesting and entertaining, so of course, my first reaction was to post it on my Facebook Page. (They make it very easy to do now - YouTube offers easy posting and sharing of videos with just one click...one simple click...). I was just about to click on the "post this" button when I a thought entered my head: Maybe not.

My Facebook Friends include friends, family, acquaintances, a few people I don't know all that well, colleagues and clients. Its not that I'm ashamed of my political views, quite the opposite actually. And I would have loved to share this video with the majority of my "friends", but I began to think about the clients that are in my "friends".

Now don't get the wrong idea - there was nothing obscene or truly bad about this video, but it definitely leans to one side. Its not that I don't want or even care, frankly, if anyone knows my political views. But I do understand that many topics, politics especially, can be very emotionally -more so I think, lately. I wouldn't want to offend anyone or have them think I am some sort of radical...do you see where I'm going with this? Its not that I would offend anyone, but the possibility - remote as it was - stopped me from posting the video.

So I began to think - do others censor themselves on social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blogs, etc.? The whole idea of Web 2.0 and social media is transparency - but does that mean that you should say and post whatever you want? Or because of the neverending/everlasting network that is the Internet, do we need to be even more careful about what we say and post?

My decision was not to post the video. But I wonder if that was the right thing to do or not. After all, it wasn't incendiary, at least I don't believe it was. I didn't want to take the chance - and it was mostly my clients that I was concerned with - of someone thinking, "oh Joyce has those political views does she? well, since I don't agree, I think I'll find a new copywriter." Actually, sounds silly now that I've written it out!

Still, I think it brings up a valid point about how we portray ourselves on line. Do we build specific on line personas? Or should we just be ourselves completely? And if we are not truly ourselves on line, what does that mean for social media transparency?

Have you ever censored yourself when using social media? Or do you believe that it is an anything goes medium? Perhaps you fall somewhere in the middle?