Online and Offline Behaviour

An itty bitty day, the sort where there is lots happening and things are getting done, but you feel like you are running on the spot, or worse, through a maze. The positive element was an unexpected call from a prospective client, leading to setting a first appointment. There is also the excitement of a possible Spanish version of a book by one of our authors. The text came through today and we will begin setting it with the relevant pictures in the text.

I had an interesting phone conversation today with a friend about how we act on social media and it made we wonder, do we behave differently than in conventional social interactions? There are of course opportunities to play out different roles on social media, but I've found that for me, it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain over time. Ultimately I revert to my current state of opinions, interests and reactions. And when I follow Facebook friends, they too seem to reflect their actual nature and interests. Some people do react more freely, and occasionally even aggressively, online, when not directly face to face. Fortunately, this has been rare in my experience. I'm generally tempered by the belief that ultimately, everything online is public and could backfire on you!

Regarding Brexit, we have had a period of consumer confidence, lowest unemployment for decades and the benefit for exporters of a weak pound. One of the results is a potential windfall for the Chancellor of about GBP12bn prior to the budget. However, it seems that business confidence is waning and events such as the takeover of Vauxhall by the Peugeot-Citroen group PSA are raising questions of potential Brexit impact. PSA has an excess of car plants and will be rationalising them, with inevitable closures. Will the UK's exit from the EU mean additional barriers to moving car components into the UK or exporting cars to the continent that make UK plants less viable?

It looks as if President Trumps accusations of wiretapping continue to stoke a mixture of media activity. Depending from your stand, the anti-establishment right wing are escalating this into a major grievance and taking the claims as fact. Democrats and officers in the past administration are aghast at the slur of these unsubstantiated allegations. The FBI has approached the Department of Justice to refute the wiretap allegations, as to their knowledge such wiretaps did not take place. But such is the mistrust being generated around the US administration that facts may simply be lost in disbelief.

Is the president learning. A second immigration act was signed off today by POTUS, where consultation appears to have taken place and it's implementation is delayed till next week, allowing organisations and institutions to adapt. This second act may still be challenged on the grounds of religious discrimination.

Maybe it is a first step out of the current chaos and things will improve again.