Me and Kate Jackson
You know how they put a disclaimer at the end of movies and television shows as a CYA for any story, character, or animal issues?
Those disclaimers are meant to provide legal protection or at least try to ward off potential lawsuits.
It occurred to me, after reading years of blog posts, tweets, and Facebook updates that there should probably be a comparable social media disclaimer!
While there are social media policies, and rather bland Twitter profiles stating someone’s tweets don’t represent an employer’s point of view, they don’t go far enough. They don’t really protect a reader and help them understand the significant level of fiction, hype, and misinformation to which they are being exposed.
A Social Media Disclaimer Recommendation
As a result, here’s my suggested social media disclaimer to provide more accurate context for most self-serving social media content that’s out there. Try this on for size:
“Implied relationships with social media rock stars may be further away than they appear to be. Opinions are mine only, and not just as in they aren't held by my employer. They aren't held by ANYONE else either . . . unless I copied them directly from a social media rock star. All assessments of events, food, and social interactions are highly subjective and generally over-stated. Although pictures of me with celebrities, visiting glorious vacation destinations, and consuming fabulous food and drinks account for 99% of my photos on Facebook and Instagram, they represent only 1% of my otherwise boring life. By me sharing your content, don’t think it implies endorsement. It doesn't even imply I read it before sharing it. Client projects mentioned in Facebook updates should not be assumed to be paying engagements. Some clients mentioned in updates are purely fictional and do not represent any real clients living or dead.”
This won’t help you beat any FTC issues on disclosing freebies you receive for review in your blog. But if people had to attach this social media disclaimer to every over-the-top, humble brag, or arrogant Facebook update they make, social networks would be a lot more tolerable.
Coming Clean on Humble Brag Social Sharing
What do you think? Would this help make the humble brag social media content you've seen the past week more tolerable? - Mike Brown
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