What Does “Inappropriate” Mean When it Comes to Social Media for Adults and Businesses?

WE’VE ALL HEARD THE ADVICE, WHETHER FROM PARENTS, FRIENDS, FAMILY, COLLEAGUES, OR BOSSES: “DON’T POST ANYTHING INAPPROPRIATE ONLINE”. ONCE YOU’VE SAID THAT, MOST OF US ASSUME THE PERSON WITH WHOM WE’RE SPEAKING, HAS GOTTEN THE MESSAGE, TO BE THOUGHTFUL BEFORE YOU SHARE ONLINE.

INTENTIONAL VAGUENESS

The problem is that the terms “appropriate” and “inappropriate” and intentionally vague – what one person deems appropriate online behavior might be considered inappropriate by another; an idea that was summed-up by Justice Potter Stewart in his concurring opinion written in the 1964 Supreme Court decision for Jacobellis v. Ohio about obscenity where he wrote “I know it when I see it”.