There is little doubt that you can position yourself and your company as an authority and source of reliable information, promote your brand and sell your products and services on social media.
However, social media also provides the opportunity to engage in the type of behavior which, in retrospect, can seem ill-advised; and upon further examination downright stupid.
The issue is immediacy and what you may think is cute, funny, important, or relevant NOW, is capable of being insensitive or even offensive to a certain segment of your family, friends, colleagues, company, audience, and customer base when viewed in a different context. It's the law of unintended consequences.
Illustrating this type of immediacy -- and idiocy -- we find the founder and CEO of SCOTTeVEST, a multi-pocket vest designed to accommodate electronic devices, SHARING his thoughts about one of the sales channels used by his company. While it might have been amusing at the time, or simply a case of political virtue signaling, it did result in a significant backlash and a disavowal of his actions by the company he founded.
BEST PRACTICES: THINK AHEAD TO HOW YOUR MESSAGE MAY BE INTERPRETED BY SOMEONE WHO IS NOT ATTUNED TO YOUR SENSE OF HUMOR OR THE CONTEXT WITHIN WHICH YOUR COMMENT IS MADE.