Business and Emotions

Working online and the use of social media involves contact with people.

People which you haven't met most of them in real life. Usually you don't really know much about their background or personal circumstances.

Though Social media sites are great for connections and contacts, they have limitations because of what I wrote in the previous sentence.

Additionally most contacts are through written messages. As opposed to face to face contact you miss many aids in written messages. You can not see the expression of the others face, you can not read body language and you can't hear the tone of voice; all 3 are signals to help you to evaluate if your message comes across. In online contacts also language can be an extra barrier; it is much more difficult to express your thoughts in a language that is not your native one.

This being said it is unavoidable that there will be misunderstandings which can sometimes escalate to arguments and anger and disappointment. This can happen when an online contact acts in a way you did not expect and you totally disagree with. This is where emotions get it in: "I can believe he/she did this (to me)".

People feel hurt or angry. It is in humans nature to strike back immediately. A message or comment is written in anger or a connection is cut off or a business relation or partnership is broken. People often make decisions in an emotional state they regret later once they have cooled down and reflected on the issue a bit more from a distance or discussed the issue with others.

I made this mistake once. Out of disappointment and frustration I quit and walked out on the best opportunity in my online business life. I could undo it fortunately but since that happened I never made another decision based on emotions again.