I
have a colleague who is a stern and strict woman. Quite a few people have
commented of her curt, cutting and hurtful remarks and I myself have been a
recipient of her aggression. Many have complained of the way she refuses to
listen to others’ views and dismisses feedback and some have just refused to
offer their opinion for they feel that it’s just pointless. She would either
just ignore them or cut them off in mid-sentence. To be tactless is one thing
but to ignore and interrupt others is quite another thing. I myself have been a
recipient of her tactless remarks.
Now,
I have reached that stage where I don’t want to waste any more time beating
around the bush trying not to offend people. Life’s too short to beat around the
bush and besides, you waste too much time trying to be sensitive to other
people’s feelings when they may not even bother with your feelings. But I can still
be polite, tactful and diplomatic and at the same time, still be honest and speak
my mind directly to the person I have issues with. There’s no need to antagonise
another person just because you’re trying to be frank with your thoughts and
this applies to both offline and online conversations.
Blogging,
tweeting and maintaining a FB account can be likened to hosting an open house. Anyone
can read the host’s blog posts, tweets or FB status updates. If you like and
agree with what the host says or thinks, you can stay/RT (even favourite) the
tweet(s)/like the status. The host will share things on his mind; he may be
full of praises of someone one day and full of veiled criticisms the next. You don’t
have to agree with what the host opines and if you think it’s too much, you can
leave. But it doesn’t mean that the host can be irresponsible and posts
whatever he likes. He has to be responsible for his views and opinions and he
must be prepared to accept comments; after all, if one is prepared to share his
opinions online, he must also be prepared to accept any disagreement to his
views. Just because the host thinks he’s an anonymous member of a social medium
doesn’t absolve him of his responsibility to his audience.
Because
words can hurt and when they do, they aren’t only just words but can be painful
stabbing criticisms that result in resentment and long-lasting emotional and mental
scars.
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