Over the last several weeks, we've had the Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage, the GeorgeZimmerman trial and fallout, abortion issues in Texas and other controversies guaranteed toviolently stir the emotions of otherwise sane people. Argumentsconstantly flare up on social media as friends disagree and maketheir opinions known in a matter of seconds. And many times it getsugly.

Back in the day, this sort of discourse used to happen at theoffice water cooler, around the kitchen table or fueled by alcoholin the confines of the local bar. Today it's easier to huddle inour cubicles, whip out our portable devices of choice and blast off140 choice, unexpurgated words on Twitter, or post a snarky GIF onFacebook. The perceived anonymity of it all means we think we canreally let loose—not a good idea in light of the recently revealedscrutiny of the NSA, not to mention all of our employers and thewhole of the U.S. trial bar.

I'm as guilty as the next guy—although my rants are more likelyto concern inane pop references like Kanye West's $120 T-shirt thananything politically charged.

I should know better, since I've edited a multitude of storiesdealing with cyberlibel, EPLI and other insurance-related examples of how bad Internetbehavior can lead to trouble.

The cases are myriad, but a few of the more egregious instancesare:

• Adria Richards, a SendGrid employee attending adevelopers' conference overheard two men making sexually chargedcomments. She complained about it on Twitter, which resulted in one guygetting fired. His firing caused a backlash that ended up with herlosing her own job.
• Comic Gilbert Gottfried famously lost his sweet commercial gig as the voice of the Aflac duckbecause of some bad jokes he tweeted after the Japaneseearthquake.
• St. Louis TV station KMOV fired anchor Larry Conners after he speculated on Facebook thathe might have been politically targeted by the IRS.

Still, when big things happen, emotions run high. And today,when the mainstream media devote almost more attention to the Twitterspherereaction to an event than to the event itself, every yokel witha smart phone and an opinion is ready for his closeup, Mr.DeMille.

Don't be that guy.

Forbes recently ran a 12-step “social media etiquette” checklist toreview before posting anything on social media. It's just asimportant for the average Joe or Josette as it is for the tweetingCEO who wants to stay engaged with his customers.

Here's the list:

1. Should I target a specic audience with this message?
2. Will anyone really care about this contentbesides me?
3. Will I offend anyone with this content? If so, who? Doesit matter?
4. Is this appropriate for a social portal, or would it bestbe communicated another way?
5. How many times have I already posted something today? Morethan three can be excessive.
6. Did I spell check?
7. Will I be okay with absolutely anyone seeing this?
8. Is this post too vague? Will everyone understand what I'msaying?
9. Am I using this as an emotional dumping ground? If so,why? Is a different outlet better for these purposes?
10. Am I using too many abbreviations in this postand starting to sound like a teenager?
11. Is this reactive communication or is itwell thought-out?
12. Is this really something I want to share, or is it just meventing?

One of the joys of social media is spontaneity, so it'skind of sad that our posts require the political and legal vettingusually devoted to an annual report. But that's the reality of ourwonderful interconnected world.

So heed those words and be careful out there. I look forward toengaging in social media discussions on the topics that are left:weather (but not climate change), the cuteness of babies (but nothow they got here), how I love dogs (don't get me wrong! I likecats, too!) and sports (basically just how much we like them. Notcondoning any specific teams).

And let's keep it under three posts a day, OK?