Yellow Social Media

With everything in the world being identified through some affiliation or association I have spent a little time looking at social media through the colors of the spectrum. No I am not tripping and seeing ‘wild colors’. I instead have decided to try to expand how I look at social media and see who might come along for the ride.

I have looked at social media through a green, red and blue lens thus far and today it’ll be addressing the yellow side of social media.
The yellow side of social media? Well, rather than scratch our heads about it let’s dive in.

• Yellow for caution – Social media is something that I promoted as a free-wheeling, wide open online commune of love and happiness by some. This kind of hype and hyperbole about ANYTHING should at least raise a yellow flag for caution (hat tip to the possible NASCAR fan reading this which is unlikely but whatever). Every sign on the roadways that is yellow is warning you to slow down and use some discretion. Social media is a place where discretion is certainly the better part of valor.

• Yellow means cowardly – The flip side of looking at social media in a cautious manner is to take that caution too far and become a social media coward. That’s becoming so fearful that you will do something wrong like write a bad post or say something that someone might, gulp, disagree with. If you are working scared in social media then find another place to play. It can be sensed by those and you will be marked as weak. As a result you will be beat up at best and completely ignored at worst.

• Yellow is happy – Yellow is the kind of color that has a happy disposition outside of the previous two uses. It’s bright and sunny and cheery. Word of caution – if you are too bubbly and gregarious you look like a fool. Many will disagree with me here and that’s fine. As easy as it is to be negative online it can be just as easy and disingenuous to be the shiny, happy social media person. No one’s buying it so just be yourself. No one is always happy so why be that way in social media.

• Yellow as in a banana peel – How many times have you seen the old slip on a banana peel routine in cartoons. I still chuckle at it. As far as social media though it serves as a reminder that it is easy to slip up. How you land after you go airborne will determine how much damage you have created by not paying attention and slipping up. Remember to always get up quickly no matter how much something hurt because the social media machine moves on whether you are hurt or not.

Any other thoughts about yellow in social media? Leave them here but be cautious without showing any fear and don’t be too happy because you may slip up.

Thanks for coming by.