Reader or writer, intent and response

Extended families can be rich in the dramatic. Especially if the lines of communicating are not equal in all directions, which is probably never likely. A recent family drama turned out to be a storm in a tea-cup. These are my words describing my perception. Some other family members are probably still licking their wounds. All about a status message on a popular social networking site.

This again got me pondering the accuracy of social networking statuses. In the past this pondering has been confined to my head - is it brave to post this here considering the repercussions? Can they, SN statuses, in all honesty, be an accurate reflection of a writer's mental state? I presuppose that the meaning of my communication is in the response I elicit, from those I communicate with. Getting an overwhelmingly concerned response from friends and family in response to a status update warrants questioning of the writer's intent. If attention is what you seek, then you'll get that, possibly different to what you intended.

So when dramatic and concerning statuses find their way into social networking reality and the response is equally dramatic (Newton's law: for every action there is an equal but opposite reaction) - does the reader's response match the writer's intent? And how seriously should we take any future social networking statuses?

With concern and apologies to the family for hanging our laundry out in the open.