Social Media TIP OF THE WEEK: Disagree

Disagree. Yes. I said it. Disagree.

Now, this is, of course, coming from yours truly who is, by nature, a people pleaser and I hate disagreeing. What? Molly hates something? Yes, and that’s negativity and disagreement. I come from an uber-supportive family and I’m an improviser. In improv, we are told that disagreement on stage is nothing but wasted time. Our philosophy, “Yes, and…” tells us as improvisers that we support and we agree with our scene partner 100% AND to add new and interesting information. If you and I were on stage and you handed me an imaginary cat and I responded by saying, “NO! That’s a dog!” – then that would be disagreement and the audience would immediately check out and loathe what was happening on stage. So, what does this point have to do with Social Media? And why on earth would I tell you to do something I, myself, am not even good at. Because I can, that’s why.

It’s important to listen to other’s opinions and take in each other’s perspectives. I learned this lesson very early on. My mother was a very liberal democrat and my father was a very conservative republican – they might not have always seen eye-to-eye, but they always appreciated each other’s opinions and took their perspectives into account – this almost made their relationship stronger. But this isn’t a relationship blog. 😉

So here is your challenge: the next time you read a tweet, a Facebook status update, a blog post, or check out an article – find a way to, politely of course, disagree. Challenge an argument. Start a healthy discussion and see what comes out of it. See what you can learn.

Now, don’t be a jerk and don’t fight with people. There is a point where you can go too far. But I believe you can always learn from people who see things differently than you. But, you don’t have to agree with me, of course. 😉

Social Media TIP OF THE WEEK: Disagree from Molly Buckley on Vimeo.

All for now.