In my post, Volatility in Social Media, I described the dangers of just spouting your viewpoints willy-nilly. Not only is it a waste of your time, you will attract the detractors who have the opposite viewpoint and are in a hurry to stomp out anyone who disagrees with their viewpoint. It feels almost like they have a meeting place where these folks meet and tell each other where the opposing viewpoints are posted and they rush out to put in their viewpoints into your comments.
But where can you go, where you won’t have to deal with the resistance every time you post?
My favorite place is Facebook Groups. You can join almost any group, although some will restrict membership to people that they know or that someone vouches for. Some groups are private, so only the people who are invited are allowed in. All groups are moderated in some way. That is where the stress is removed. The moderated groups have at least one moderator who approves posts and can remove members who are not polite or differ in viewpoint with others in the room.
I am in a few private groups and I find it refreshing to talk about my favorite topics without fear of trolls. Sometimes, though, you might find a person or two who don’t necessarily agree with something you post, but the fear of getting banned from the group helps keep them civilized. The trick is to set up the ground rules early in the process.
If you can’t find the exact type of group that fits your style, starting one is easy, and you can build it to your liking. Once it is created and the rules defined, you simply look for other like minded people in your timeline or do related searches. After you have found 10 active posters, you will find that the group takes on a life of its own.
Hopefully, you find this helpful. I have been enjoying the groups I am a member of and I find that we grow closer the more we share our thoughts and feelings about whatever the main topic of the group might be. The more discussion that is allowed to happen, the stronger the communication and camaraderie that develops. Often, I find that if I want to say something about the topic that my group is about, I no longer try to post it on my own wall, because the people who will most identify with it are the ones in my group!
