Authenticity and Political Correctness in Business Communication

Should you publicly express an opinion that is at odds with the prevailing standards of political correctness?

About two decades ago, the question wouldn’t have made sense. There was no way one’s opinion could travel beyond one’s immediate circles.

The Internet, and particularly, social media platforms changed it all. Today, a post on a social network can spread far and wide, even to people six degrees away. Suddenly, strangers can form a perception about you based on your digital activity.

This has huge implications on one’s reputation management.

In the early years of social media, people often spoke without inhibition. People were seen indulging in a verbal duel online as if they were speaking behind closed doors. This happened because the very public nature of the platform was not internalized for a while.

However, a few gaffes by people made the situation untenable. The publicity costs of the gaffes began to outweigh the upside of authentic communication. This was improbable in the traditional business setting where no communication would be broadcast before being vetted by their PR and legal teams.

Today, most business communications on social media come across as legalese. It’s carefully crafted to toe the politically correct line.

So, it begs these questions:

• If you self-censor on social media platforms, are you still being authentic?
• Are you being authentic if you’re complying with what’s politically correct?
• Is there no middle ground between authenticity and political correctness?

Considering the indelible nature of digital ink, these questions are worth contemplating.

First things first: tempering what and how you speak based on your medium and audience is not hypocrisy. It’s plain old common sense.

How you speak at home isn’t how you conduct yourself at the workplace. Topics you will touch upon will change based on whether you’re with your college friends or colleagues.

You’re not resorting to double standards. You’re simply applying different standards.

A social media platform isn’t meant for private consumption. So it’s only natural you speak the way you would in a public setting.

This also puts the false dilemma between authenticity and political correctness to rest.

Choose What You Show

Karthik Srinivasan , a personal branding expert, explains this best with the following analogy:

“Imagine you live in a house with 100 windows. If you open all 100 windows, the world can see you all the time – that would be like living your life on a 24×7 video stream. But, if you carefully pick only 5 windows and open them, the world sees you through those windows and forms an opinion about you.

“Now, what they see from the 5 windows is not the real/complete you, but it is still you – a chosen version of you.”

“This means you need a clear personal brand definition, geared towards helping people (anyone online) understand who/what you are, what you may be good at/known for. It also means you need to put more effort into choosing the kind of topics that you pick to talk about (why and what), in articulating your thoughts in the most appropriate manner (how), and picking the right channels to do it (where).”

Some Parting Words

For beginners, a rule of thumb is to prioritize “how” you present your argument over “what” you choose to speak on. Many thinkers have spoken about taboo subjects, but have framed it in a way that’s hard to dismiss. In the digital world, it’s a good idea to criticize opinions, not the people.

Considering that your online activity is out in the open for all to see, it’s common sense, not hypocrisy, to be mindful about what and how you say things.