I work in social media and online reputation management as a community intelligence analyst for Visible Technologies. Typically I work with internet data from blogs, forums, and social networking sites for Fortune 500 companies, but today I was reminded that social media affects everybody–especially writers.

I hang out on forums, blog, Tweet, participate in memberships, manage websites, moderate some newsgroups,write for Livejournal, etc. and so forth. I can tell you that social communities on the internet are as close-knit as social communities anywhere. They are just…better connected.

People know each other on forums, and despite what you may think, there is a culture on every website as well as rules for behavior (granted, these vary by community). A lot of folks forget this. It is easy to assume that having an internet username protects you with a shroud of anonymity. Furthermore, the physical distance makes people feel like they can say whatever they want without consequences. But this is an illusion. The people you speak to online are real people. If you are a professional, you shouldn’t say things to them on a blog or forum that you wouldn’t say to them in real life… in a public setting… where are all your friends are watching.

In fact, I would argue that behaving poorly online is worse than behaving poorly in ‘real life’. Why? Because written words are immortal. They cut deeper than spoken words because they can be read over and over. They can also be passed around. And trust me: they are.

As a writer (published or unpublished), there are some things you should never do:

1. Insult your readers, even if they gave a nasty review of your work.
2. Get in fights with other writers, editors, or readers, especially over petty issues.
3. Belittle editors, copyeditors, agents, or anyone else in the publishing industry (They know each other and they will share! Besides, shouldn’t you appreciate the people helping you to publish your work?)
4. Act like a child or a prima donna, especially about your work (a superiority complex is not attractive)

Blogs can be particularly dangerous for writers. They are very attractive because they incorporate what we love best: writing for an audience. But you have to be careful. It is a misconception that a blog is a “personal space.” It is not the ideal place to vent frustration. Blogs are public forums. When you write in a blog, you are publishing to a global audience. Forums also are public venues. Posting a rant, throwing a fit, or participating in a flame war is not advisable!

This isn’t to say that you can’t engage in reasoned arguments or can’t say how your feel. Just don’t say anything about anyone you wouldn’t say to their face…in front of a camera.

The reason for caution is that drama incites interest, and anyone who sees what you wrote can ‘move it’ with a simple copy and paste. You may not even know about it. The majority of people who read threads on forums and blogs don’t comment themselves. They may not have a membership, or prefer not to incite wrath by getting involved, but they might say something about it somewhere else!

There are in fact blogs, forums, and communities dedicated to harvesting dramatic spats and republishing them for the purpose of heckling (in fandom, a facet of social media that fiction writers should be familiar with, internet drama of ‘point-and-laugh’ entertainment value is called a wank.)

So if you value your online reputation (you should), don’t be douchebag. As a writer, your words represent you. Be careful with them. Control them. If you don’t, you may be exposing a poor side of yourself to the people you most want to impress, and you may not even realize it.

As your mother taught you, online or anywhere, always mind your Ps and Qs. When in doubt, if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all!