Do You Use “I” Or “We”?

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Whenever making a reference to what my (old) blog was involved in, I usually used the term ‘we’ even though it was just ‘me.’ This was necessary to maintain a sense of community (it was natural as well).

The same should be applied to the company or business you own or work in.

To keep it simple, when using ‘we’ it should be in reference to company activities. A live talk show for instance: “We will be right back after these messages.” This placement of ‘we’ shows team work and includes the audience.

The ‘I’ should be used to accept responsibility, “I apologize, I misheard you.” If you are involved in a process, but did not actually produce the process don’t use “I” to get the credit. “I’ve created this website,” when it was actually a team of people.

Try not to blame others by using the separatist term “they.” The horror. “They did this…they did that.” To maintain a sense of ownership, you can say “I’m sorry….we will handle this…”

With proper usage you’ll maintain a sense of ownership and convey professionalism.These same concepts can be applied in new media. After all, new media changes the way we communicate, and does not dehumanize our communication.

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  • http://lowriderlibrarian.blogspot.com/ Max Macias

    This is a great tip. We all need to remember that we have an organizational presences on the web and an individual presence. I have trouble myself sometimes, but seek to guide org. presence by our mission. I also try to remember that my individual (personal) posts will most likely be linked emotionally to my org posts–if the reader knows I that it is me posting from both profiles.

    Nice–I like practical advice I can use. Thank you!

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