These days, many feel compelled to know where they stand in comparison to others—they count likes, monitor post comments, compare awards, wonder how much does ‘so and so’ make, are curious how big the contract ‘so and so’ got, check on whose articles were published, shocked why someone else got the cover of Money Magazine and not them.

Ugh…. This seems so exhausting!

Whether they realize it or not, these comparisons can destroy them. We see examples of these comparison-making behaviors taking place all the time on social media platforms. No doubt, comparing comes with the internet territory; it’s human nature.

Personal comparisons aside, to put things in a proper perspective, we need to think about why people post their business and personal information on social media platforms in the first place.

As we have seen, such posts may or may not be in their best interest. When they put themselves out there for acceptance, approval, or exposure, they put themselves out on the ledge, inviting people to judge them. With the internet, it’s 24/7 and very public. All of us have read people’s responses to social media posts, and there are always hints of friction, even jealousy.

Bragging appears to be commonplace as well.

We must ask, “How far out on the ledge are we willing to go?”

If your skin is thick and you don’t mind being publicly deconstructed daily, you might walk all the way to the outer edge; however, I want to remind people that such public scrutiny can be brutal. If your skin is thin or too sensitive, I say be wary of what you post. Before we post anything, I suggest we know why we are posting. Are we adding real value, making more noise, causing trouble, or setting ourselves up for more frustration? These questions only we can answer.

We need to dig deep, think about the ledge, or else we might fall off.

It’s important to note that not everything we read on social media is truthful (duh). Some companies and people are not what they say they are or have the skills they say they possess, but that’s an entirely different topic for yet another post.