Burning Freelance Bridges: Watch Your Social Media Venting
Yesterday, I got very upset at a client. The reason isn’t relevant, but I spent part of the afternoon opening and closing the sites I use to communicate — my blog, Twitter, LinkedIn and so on — thinking about saying something about how upset I was, warning other freelancers off of this particular client and generally venting. In the end, I didn’t post anything, because I knew I’d burn plenty of bridges with just one unfortunate comment.
The client in question is savvy about social media and would have undoubtedly seen any comment I made. Even if this person would not have seen any remarks I made online, it still would have hurt me in the end. Negative commentary about clients in a public venue can’t help but cause a freelancer problems down the road.
Burning Bridges with Social Media
It’s easy to forget how many people can see a comment made on a blog or a social networking site, especially down the line. Even if the client I wanted to vent about wouldn’t have seen anything I chose to post, it’s very possible that a future client — someone I hoped to work with — could have. I don’t know about you, but personally I’m reluctant to work with anyone that publicly bad-mouths clients or other freelancers. I wouldn’t want to work with me and I wouldn’t have blamed any prospective clients that chose to avoid me after that fact.
Even posting about the client (or anyone else) without mentioning names can cause problems. I once got frustrated with a source and tweeted about the situation, carefully leaving out the source’s name. I got a flood of responses from people who had helped me with information for articles, each asking if they were the guilty party. I tried to reassure everyone that things were fine, but I know that some of my more enthusiastic sources rapidly became less interested in helping me after that one, little, frustrated tweet.
A Bigger Problem for Freelancers
Over the past couple of years, there have been plenty of situations in which people have made comments that caused big problems with clients. One of the best known examples is James Andrews, who insulted the city of Memphis on Twitter — while on his way to meet with one of his employer’s clients based there. It caused some consternation online, Andrews and his employer apologized and managed to make the client happy again.
But this sort of situation is a much bigger problem for a freelancer. There’s no way that you can point to an employee as the problem when you’re the entire company wrapped up in one person, making it impossible to claim that a comment you made doesn’t represent your freelance practice as a whole.
Worse, most of your clients are the size of Ketchum’s (the company Andrews works for). The client upset by Andrews’ tweet was Fedex. But a smaller client could have easily ripped up a contract on the spot — a concern that freelancers have to be aware of.
Keep It Under Wraps
I’m not suggesting that everything that you say online has to be carefully vetted and weighed, but when you’re talking about your clients — your bread-and-butter — it’s important to think before you blog. There are a few opportunities to vent anonymously (just reading Clients From Hell tends to make me feel better), but in the long run, venting offline is probably the best bet.
We don’t all have to be full of sunshine day in and day out, but freelancers do have to demonstrate our professionalism online far beyond what is expected for the average employee.
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I gave a similar lecture to my students about the values of safe social media. Many college students may not realize it, but Facebook and Twitter can cause problems down the line while they are looking for an internship or full time job.
That being said, I still need to be a bit more mindful of what I vent about.
i have seen so many developers lose their jobs over facebook and blog rants that i just keep everything client related off of my blog, unless it is a good experience of course
I agree – I do try to keep my own vents within my household. My husband usually gets the brunt of it! I do have a mailing list I’m on that’s privatized, but “privatized” doesn’t mean it absolutely cannot be found. It’s just not as easy to find stuff as it is with other social media stuff. I can let loose there on occasion (because it’s nice to yell at people who understand) but even then, I still keep specifics under wraps, and I use an email address there that I don’t use anywhere else. (Yes, I know there’s still no guarantee, so I can’t let loose as much as I can with my hubby!)
I do get what you mean, though. People are just not aware of how it can come back around and bite you. I used to work in the legal field, and I do remember a judge saying to me one day “You’d be surprised how many people have things go badly because they think they are anonymous on the internet.” It *can* be used against you – even legally.
But yep, there are some days when I just want to let it all out, and I know of some people who would *really* deserve it too! But the line of thought is “professionalism,” and as it’s said to clients: if you don’t want it to be found, stolen and/or used in a manner which you do not approve of, then don’t put it on the internet.
This is an important subject and this is why I use social media purely as a professional tool. One angry/sarcastic post, taken out of context, can easily grow out of proportion. If it’s personal – keep it private.
Take care!
This is so true! I watched a recent social media meltdown where both parties vented unnecessarily in public view. My view of both parties has been injured because of it.
That being said, I think it is hard to know what is okay and what is not. Everyone says to be yourself and let your personality shine through in social media. But in person, I tend to use a lot of biting sarcasm. I fear it doesn’t translate well to an online environment, and so I work hard to avoid it. It leaves me feeling like I’m not being much like my true self.
The good news is that it is much easier to filter yourself in advance online than it is in-person. It is too easy in person to say the wrong thing, but I spend a lot of time editing myself online before I hit the “submit” button.
I totally agree. Another thing I would like to add is, even if the client may never see the rant, it could be a friend of the client . In this business or any other, it’s always good to keep in mind that it’s a small world.
True confession: Martha has a rant buddy. She’s a longtime friend, and when things in my neck of the business woods are really getting to me, I give her a call. Or, if she’s feeling the same way, she calls me.
Note the lack of Internet use in the previous paragraph.
OTOH, some of my client and job disasters have made good fodder for Freelance Switch articles. And, yes, I’ve omitted names in all instances.
Have to agree about posting anything work related on social media websites. It completely stupid to insult anyone who you may depend on for money. Anyone caught slagging their boss or work mates in either a normal job or freelance situation has got nobody to blame but themselves.
If you client doesn’t pay and rips you off, then vent as much as you can. I wouldn’t stop, believe me. But if it’s just some “upsetting”, then it’s OK. I just “broke up” with a client who wanted me to create something I wasn’t cool with (I don’t design crappy sites, even if they pay for one) and, because the client failed to accept discussing our options, we just went on our ways. Sure, this does upset me, but it’s all been professional enough, so there’s no need to badmouth the client.
Yeah, no matter how big a piece of garbage your ex client is, you should maintain your professionalism.
Yeah this happened to me once by accident. I was venting at how horrible it was to work for this client – all the language was generic, but I discussed in detail how the leaders of this marketing committee were totally out of line and difficult to work with – and I thought I was safe…but then I posted the logo samples (all 20 of them!) and forgot to take out the client’s name as part of the logo. Doh!! Needless to say, they asked me to take it down and I complied and apologized profusely. Luckily, no one was reading my blog at the time. LOL
God invented http://www.clientcopia.com for these situations.
OK, it was not God, it was some very angry dude, but you get it.
Thanks, Ignacio for the clientcopia link. It’s a real gem. Like Shelly, my husband gets the full force of my anger when clients make me rant. My cat rather wisely goes far out of earshot…
Excellent and humbling. I know this, as we all do, but seeing it in print…I get it.
Another similar to Clientcopia, usually only shoter quotes:
http://clientsfromhell.tumblr.com
There’s one other really important consideration here that no one has mentioned. Depending on what you say, you might not just be burning social media bridges, you might be setting yourself up for a libel or slander suit…. You also don’t know if someone is going to retweet or otherwise reproduce part of your rant out of context in a different setting and that could land you in hot water, too.
I usually vent anonymously or I talk about it on sites like this in as constructive a manner as I can. I try to make them out to be more like learning experiences or endearing anecdotes. Never name names and never get too personal. I once mentioned how bad a client was right in the description of the work (s/he tried to do an infamous PayPal reversal on me and keep the work at the same time), but I very quickly learned my lesson and took it down.
Common sense, all around. And Clients From Hell is an awesome collection of horror stories/humor. Use it!
“If your hands still shaking, don’t press send…”
I’ve found that the worst experiences I’ve had with clients change within 24 hours. I start to see their point of view or I see the learning experience within it.
More than ever, it’s important to remember that if you can’t say something nice, get off the internet. Stuff sticks around here.
Nice post, but it should just be common sense. If I’m frustrated I’ll vent to a few of my close friends who are in the same field, my girl & maybe even my mom, but I’m not about to post comments about a client that are for public consumption, especially not naming a particular one. That’s just stupid.
If you really feel you must say something negative do in it on your well protected Facebook account and even then keep it general leaving the name of the client off. Otherwise you might as well purchase a gun and literally shoot yourself in the foot. Would that really make you feel better?
OK. Common sense does say keep opinions of neighbors, clients and coworkers to yourself. But what politics and social issues? I am of the school of thought that believes that we have been silent (ie politically correct) too long. And quite frankly, I don’t think I’d lose a lot of sleep over losing a prospect who disagrees with my politics. Chic-fil-A should have taught people something. You can stand for conservative values and people here will support you.