In school, I was taught to write in a coherent manner in order to express my thoughts to others. I was taught to think critically and evaluate what others say or write.  Aristotle’s concepts of rhetoric (logos, pathos, ethos) were explained in their essence, if not outright.

Age and generation notwithstanding, I was not taught how to “do” social media. I don’t think it is even part of the standard curriculum in public education today. However, I was taught a bit about propaganda, “card-stacking”, advertisement and other related tools and techniques of persuasion.

Each of the above is still valid, i.e. usable, in today’s realm of communication, social or otherwise.

More in-depth writing is forthcoming. In the meantime, here are some bullet-pointed observations and nuggets of wisdom.

• Many may read your post. Of those, some will signal their approval (likes, etc.) while others will silently nod. Others still will shake their head and roll their eyes. Don’t take lack of disagreement as a sign you are winning mass approval. Don’t take modest agreement as a sign you are winning mass approval. Don’t take someone stopping the conversation (exchange of comments) as a win for you, it’s probably not. 
• It’s easy to sound pithy. Writing something that will fit on a bumper sticker, unless intended for solely humorous effect, will be an incomplete thought at best. If you think you’re writing a new proverb, you’re not. But seriously if you think you are writing a new proverb, don’t share it on social media.
• Before you are critical of others, do your utmost to examine yourself before applying that correction in a public forum. Others will probably see your hypocrisy and shake their head and roll their eyes. I do my best to self-regulate and self-evaluate. Still, you will probably spot the beams that I’ve missed in my own eyes.
• It’s easy on social media to make vague statements or take a narrow stand on something. When someone points out the ready exceptions to your blanket statement, it’s just as easy to say that it wasn’t the point of your original post or that they are misunderstanding what you really mean. Bottom line: don’t take make vague statements or take narrow stands on social media. If your goal is to bait someone into an argument where you can move the goalposts and then gaslight the moving of the goalposts, then by all means be as vague as you want to be!
• On social media, everyone does the work of author and editor. Absent specific training in journalism, you will likely do a poor job at both. You will read headlines instead of full articles. You will do a terrible job of evaluating sources of news and information. You will follow pages, share articles and friend/follow people who you think stand a good chance of agreeing with you. You will both consciously and subconsciously avoid challenging your thoughts and beliefs. In fact, you’ve probably not read this far into this post. If you have, congratulations! You might not be part of the problem.
• If you choose to respond to others, respond in a way that demonstrates empathy and compassion. There are real human people, bots notwithstanding, on the other side of the screen. This is hard to do, especially when someone makes the errors listed above.  When they do, you have a choice: respond well or poorly in person, respond well or poorly online, or ignore them. Choose wisely.