This post was co-authored by Community Analyst Melanie Thompson

To swear or not to swear? It’s an interesting debate that many of us may have with ourselves when it comes to our professional and personal voices. We heard from @RedheadWriting earlier about how swearing can be beneficial if your brand fits the mold, if your brand is cheeky and straddles that side of the road, but we also wanted to share how swearing can have a negative impact.

Negative Connotation
As children we are taught how “bad” it is to swear, a feeling that we oftentimes pull through into adulthood. That’s why many times we feel jarred when we hear someone shoot out a profanity in frustration, it’s upsetting because we’re taught that it’s taboo. Even if we don’t necessarily have a problem with swearing, it often perks our ears.  If we get this upset in person when we hear these strong words, why do we accept them in the social space? Should we be accepting them in the social space? In a space that is very focused on being short and concise with responses to the point where context can be misconstrued, why are we adding to that by incorporating language that naturally brings a sense of urgency, frustration and often times anger?

Brand: Impact
If you were meeting with a customer face to face, or on the phone, how would you feel dropping a swear word in front of them. Comfortable? Like you crossed a line? For most brands, swearing in a corporate business structure is unacceptable and would probably lose more clients than gain. Like we’ve said many times, always be yourself in the social space which means that if swearing to your clients isn’t readily accepted in the boardroom, you probably steer clear from the corporate handle.

Employees: Being the Potty Mouth
In the age of employees being the brand, the impact of an employee using a swear word can have as much impact as the corporate handle. Put yourself in your client’s shoes, if this person is who they are supposed to engage with and their feed is filled with profane language, they may not be as interested in engaging in a professional conversation with them. Be upfront with your employees and be clear as to what you accept and don’t accept in their personal twitter feeds. At Radian6, we recommend people keep their language friendly and clear of words with negative connotation or harsh swear words. This is to ensure they can benefit from a welcoming, engaging side of social media. If a mistake happens, and since we’re all human we know they’re bound to, don’t hide from it. Apologize for the profanity or misuse use of language. People always appreciate when you are willing to accept your mistakes and learn from them.

Clients: Would you swear in the lobby?
We know that as a consumer or client there are times when we all get frustrated with a product or service, but before we start spouting the harsh language stop and think. Ask yourself, “Would I walk in to the crowded lobby of this company’s office and say this out loud?” The social space does give us an amazing arena to voice our opinion but at the same time, don’t forget that not all those accounts are spammers or bots and the majority are connected to real life people who are reading your posts and reacting to them. They are often not the person that you are having frustration with. If you wouldn’t say that in front of the smiling face at the desk, then why is it alright to do from behind a computer screen? Also, back to the employee side of things, make sure your employees aren’t sending loaded tweets to other companies that you wouldn’t want out there. Brand to brand relationship can be damaged by a few rogue tweets written in haste.

What if I DO swear often?
Maybe you are thinking to yourself, “But I would say that in person!” Swearing is part of my personality. Remember that the social web is forever. Those profanities will be there during future job interviews and for your children to see. Would you also tattoo them to yourself? Or wear a t-shirt with them on it for a job interview? When we say something, it’s out there and although we can’t take it back, we also don’t have to wear it around all the time, the same is not true for the social web. What might be beneficial in times of stress and anger could have negative consequences in the future. Keep this in mind.

Of course the choice is yours, how you interpret and display your personal brand is different for everyone. What works for some may not work for others and vice versa. What do you think? Where do you fall on the swearing spectrum?

Tags: brand reputation, Community, Social Media