Liz Strauss recently told her community what her plans were to make sure she’s making good on her promises and backing up her talk with action. So I set out to articulate what I believe my social contract is with the communities I participate in and who are kind enough to allow me to be part of their world.  The term Social Contract stuck in my head thanks to Bryan Eisenberg.

So what follows is my version of a Social Contract, my pledge to my community about my involvement in the online world.

1. You’ll always get me, pretty WYSIWYG. (Minus the curse words that I tend to throw about rather liberally in sympathetic company). I’ll make sure that my personality is part of my business so that you can decide for yourself whether I’m someone you want to connect with and trust.

2. I will always maintain a hefty ratio in favor of telling you what someone else has done that’s smart (vs. the one thing I did that’s probably less so). It’s important for me to make sure that I give credit to the brilliant people that surround me and teach me and let me ride on their coattails. In many ways, I credit them with any success I have, anyway.

3. When I screw up, I’ll say so. And apologize. And do what I can to make it right. I’m human too, and failure is part of the game.

4. I’m committing to never, ever posting a “sorry I haven’t posted in a while” post on my blog. Why? Because that’s very much my conduit to the people that I can’t talk to daily, but whose feedback, insights, and collaboration are so critical to my work. If it’s important enough for me to have, it’s important enough for me to find time for.

5. If I don’t know the answer, I’ll say so. Making sh!t up benefits no one. And if I can find the answer, I will, and I’ll come back and share it.

6. I’m going to keep giving it away. Because it’s part of my DNA, and I think it’s important. And I’m going to keep drumming up new ways to do it whenever I can. You’re going to keep hearing about the real world success stories, learnings, and screwups because social media needs as many examples as it can get.

7. You’ll get a little bit of humor from me a lot of the time. The world is far, far too serious a place and I don’t intend to wallow in that fact. The positive perspective is a powerful one, and I’m going to keep trying my best to deliver the silver lining more than the cloud.

8. You’ll always get the best I have to give, and follow through will be central. I’m not super human, but I’m sure as hell going to try and make sure you’re glad we’re connected. And if I’m laying down on the job, I sure hope you’ll tell me. Which reminds me…

9. I will accept criticism gracefully. There’s so much to know about this space that I can’t possibly get it right all the time. And I’m going to value that feedback to improve my work (and quit taking it personally, as I’m quite apt to do).

10. My mind will always stay open to new things, new perspectives, and new friends.

A lot of these sentences start with “I”, only because I’m speaking in the first person. But it’s really about you. About the people whose businesses I’m trying so hard to help, whether it be a client or the communications pro that’s learning something from all the stuff I throw out here. It’s hard for me to find the words sometimes to tell you just how crazy passionate I am about what I’m doing, even if it means that I have to go work at Starbucks part time to keep doing it. I’m driven by a fierce desire to be part of something bigger than me, and I haven’t seen a revolution or sea change in my professional career that has as much potential as this era of new communications does. It makes me excited, and sometimes act like a complete dork.

There are a great number of people who, every day, are delivering on their social contracts. I’m fortunate to know and work with many of them, and I think you should know them too.

So how about your social contract? Do you have one? What’s the commitment you’ve made to your community, silent or otherwise? Would you consider putting yours on (virtual) paper and telling us what we can look forward to from you? Share away.

Photo credit: Thanks For the Memories (and just because I liked it).