Monday, August 29

Maybe Baby

There used to be 2 response options to an invite: Yes or No. With Evite and FB events, Maybe is the go-to reply. Over-replying on this wishy-washy word can undermine decision making, fray relationships, and suck the excitement out of events. It’s a verbal equivalent to a slap and a cop out. 

* Using Maybe to keep your plans open until the last minute also denies you the enjoyment of anticipating a party or event. When you look forward to something beforehand, research shows that you have more fun! Say what you really mean instead of automatically going with Maybe. It’s more respectful of the person who invited you. – Belisa Vranich, PsyD

**When you tell someone Maybe, they often think you’re saying that they’re not important enough for you to commit to right away. Over time, it can damage trust. – Gerald Goodman, PhD

Let your Yes be YES, and your No mean NO. The Maybe box for any of my invitations is forever scratched out and not a valid option! I won’t enable lukewarm flakey tendencies anymore. Show some respect, and make promises you can keep. Any future lukewarm Maybe babies will be spit out!

And if you need Biblical back-up, just reference - "Let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one." (Matthew 5:37 NKJV)

Friday, August 12

Socially Annoying

My bank wants me to "like" them on Facebook. I'd rather eat a bug.

I have no problem with my bank. They do a fine job with my money. The tellers are friendly and professional. But I don't want to see their inane, boring updates about yet another way to charge me interest.


To me, the ideal relationship with my bank is they handle the business I've given them, and I never think about it. It's not a social relationship. It shouldn't be one, and it never will be one.

Social media operates a lot like real life. Those who go on and on about themselves don't keep getting invited to join conversations.


If you're going to interact with donors, you need to figure out what they care about. Social media aren't a giant free classroom; they're more like a party. And be prepared to learn that your issues are not as universally exciting to people as you think they are. If you go in the way my bank does trying to educate and inform, you're an irrelevant and annoying party-pooper.

Well, stop it!

Is your nonprofit acting like my bank? Trying to be people's pals on Facebook and other social media so you can talk about yourself to them? In my case it's not going to happen. They can approach me by every social media channel in existence. They can have stalkers hang out in front of my house. I still don't want to be their pal, and I don't want to waste one more second of my time than I have to interacting with them. 

Apparently, though, the bank would like a more intense relationship.

… From ‘How to be a Boring Pest on Social Media’ by Jeff Brooks