The Down Side of Status Updates

Social Media sites like Facebook have become a live journal of our every day lives. Average users check in and update their status updates one to two times a day. More active users check in sometimes, every few minutes; some posts very Poignant and thoughtful and others, well- how should I say it- just plain useless!

We list what we had for breakfast,or lunch, or dinner... or about our walk around the block; that we are sitting in traffic etc... it becomes a cathartic part of our every day lives.

Like most, I fall somewhere in the middle: of posting good information, my curiosities and insights, and yes, sometimes, I too will post what might seem like to others as my "every move".

I left out of town on a family emergency early this morning. When I got to my destination, I posted one of those thoughtless status updates: "I've landed". Very simple.

While I had covered most of my responsibilities, someone who felt that I had left a stone unturned was outraged by the fact that they learned on Facebook that I had left town.

Now, given that I will own my responsibility in not S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G out for this person my exact plans, and because I had prioritized the loose ends I needed to tie up, I had yet to send them what they had requested. After-all, it was still well over 24 hours before they needed the information.

Anyway, my question now is, had I NOT posted that update, would they have ever cared that I had left especially when what they needed landed in their email inbox?
My suspicion is, probably not. They would have never gotten worked up, feeling like I forgot about our agreement or been disappointed that I had left without them knowing.

So the moral of this story is, even the most simple of posts can begin to open cans of worms we didn't even know we had!