Why swearing on Twitter is bad for your reputation
It is okay to swear by Twitter, but just plain wrong to swear on Twitter!
I’m grateful to Internet Psychologist Graham Jones for Tweeting about ‘Twittergate’ and an unseemly row that has erupted via Twitter after a Conservative councillor in West Berkshire, who Twittered a rival was ‘talking b**locks’.
The councillor, David Betts, the Conservative councillor for Purley, who is the West Berkshire Council executive member in charge of highways and transport, has been exposed for levelling the vulgar language at rival councillor, Liberal Democrat Alan Macro, he heard on the radio.
Now this was almost a month ago and had he had more than 200 followers it might have erupted sooner, but honestly? He calls himself a PR Consultant on his Twitter bio, but it doesn’t take a great deal of PR savvy to know becoming the story isn’t such great practice, especially online when it will be around long after... say a local election! How many people beyond Twitter are taking offence at his language now?
Personally, on Twitter when someone I follow is a bit too free with the swearing, along with shameless selling or invites to secure thousands of followers with little effort, that is grounds for a swift unfollow and possibly even a block or complaint to Twitter.
There is little sign of contrition. Councillor Betts told the Reading Chronicle that:
“Twitter is an instant medium. It is what you are thinking at that moment. It is there for a few minutes then forgotten about.
“I woke up and heard Alan Macro talking on 107fm and thought he was misrepresenting the council’s position.
“It is not a word I would have used in the council chamber, it maybe a word I would use in the pub.”
Or one he is happy to use on Twitter where the memory is more precise than a recollection of colourful language down the pub.
He said much the same to Newbury Today, but adds:
“On reflection, I upset him and shouldn't have said that, but I've got to ask whether there was really anything to get upset about.”
Is it just me, or is this someone elected to public office suggesting that because social media is immediate it does not require common decency or self control? If social media moves too fast for to behave with respect for others than maybe it isn’t for him!
Also, what kind of shabby qualified explanation of an apology is that? I don’t doubt he is sorry about the fuss and bother and online legacy David Betts has created for himself, but I’m not convinced he is sorry about freely swearing on Twitter.
Again with the qualification! On Twitter he replied to Tim Montgomerie, editor of ConservativeHome.com that:
"On reflection, I should not have used the term, for which I apologise. However, mountains and molehills spring to mind."
This isn’t some stroppy teenager railing against the unfairness of the world; this is a member of the West Berkshire Council’s executive who kinda thinks it is okay to swear on a very public forum! A cursory search of his Twitter feed will find other profanity too.
Coincidentally, Ant Hodges from Swindon Design agency Creative Rush has written a thoughtful blog that concludes: ‘Swearing does not belong in any professional business context’.
I’ve commented there and generally I would say swearing is rarely appropriate (a misjudged hammer blow to the thumb aside), however I have one thought.
Building rapport can be essential to doing business and what do you do when your prospect swears like a proverbial trooper? Now, you could be puritanical about it and withdraw on principle, but honestly that seems a bit judgemental to me.
I know people who swear. Some of my best friends swear and on occasion even I do! Simply speaking, language has evolved and there are times, albeit rarely, when swearing in business is not wrong but is actually essential. If you are building rapport with someone who clearly has a colourful turn of phrase, being offended will not help your cause, reflecting some of that language back in the spirit in which it is meant is actually helpful.
To recap:
- Don’t swear on Twitter. (Especially if you are an elected councillor!)
- Don’t swear in business... unless you really have to!