"Got the shirt"
I’ve been told that I’m a pretty sarcastic person. In fact, I will readily admit that those who have said it are right on, I am. (I have a couple of shirts that even warn people I’m sarcastic and my love for it.) That’s part of my personality. I embrace it, I love it and I have no feeling of shame in my view of it.
I’ve been criticized for my use of sarcasm in my on-line presence both professionally and personally and I’ve been praised for it. I leave it to individuals to determine their opinion of it and hold no ill-will of anyone’s thoughts on the matter.
There are times to use sarcasm effectively and there are definitely times not to. There are times that sarcasm is a great tactic and times it is nothing more than destructive and can cause problems.
I will never tell anyone how to use it, because I do believe there is a real art form to the use of sarcasm. Even when it is used in an excellent time / situation you will always risk offending someone.
- If you want to use it…go ahead.
- If you don’t, don’t.
- If you don’t get sarcasm….never use it, although that can be very comical. (But not always the effect you want.)
So why am I talking about this? I came across what I think is an excellent example of the great use of sarcasm when dealing with a situation.
Boston Police Department was recently hacked by “Anonymous”.
I’ve always been a huge fan of BPDNews.com which is even branded for exactly what it is, “The Boston Police Department Virtual Community”. In my opinion, it is one of the best examples of a police departments use of a website, information portal there is.
How did they respond to the Anonymous hack? Well, first they dealt with the real situation at hand…professionally, with purpose and confidence. They took steps to mitigate damage, reassured their community they were on top of it, asked for assistance and got on top of a bad situation very well.
Second, the showed a sense of humour about the incident and offered this up as a response which carried some excellent key messaging which makes it through an obvious sarcastic response.
Congratulations to Boston Police for their response. Want to know more about the BPD? Click on their website link above or find them on the following platforms:
BPD has been showing a great sense of humor ever since they told their Twitter followers they would “absolutely” disclose if a zombie apocalypse were imminent. 😀 Good post Tim, I love sarcasm but it’s hard for me to use (especially in print) because my personality tends toward naturally deadpan… I’ll vicariously enjoy your style instead!
Thanks Christa…always walking that fine line.