Many real estate agents have blogs to further their business, either on their personal site or on a site such as ActiveRain.com or Trulia.com. Most of the talk is about real estate, but there are also tangential slides into personal life and what’s happening in the world. This is fine; in fact, having a blog that has varied material can keep it interesting. However, if you have strong feelings about a controversial topic like religion or politics, be aware of how your blog is representing you.
If you follow a particular belief system, political party or mode of thought, that’s just fine; it’s a free country. And, within reason, it can be just fine to mention that you happen to be a Christian or a Liberal or a passionate animal lover. In fact, it can add some interesting fodder for your blog if your church, political party or hobby ends up gaining you clients or opportunities.
However, when things become hairy is when you use your business blog or a blog that is traceable back to you in a way that attacks another person or people who believe in a different ideology. Not only is this bad for business, it could also potentially end up with a lawsuit, as the Fair Housing Act prohibits discriminating against people for race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin and disability when it comes to housing.
You might think that militant Muslims are going to try and take over the world, but posting about the ‘Islamic threat’ does not make you appear in a favorable light to someone who is researching you. They might not be Muslim, but they may well pass up any one who appears to harbor views that come perilously close to “all Muslims are bad”. More seriously, they could call attention to your posts as evidence that you are practicing discrimination by making negative comments about Muslims as a group.
You might think that people who come from Country X are naturally shifty and inclined to evil, but posting “go back where you came from, Country X-ites!” in your blog is not going to endear you to those from that country or their friends or anyone who thinks that someone deserves a fair chance in the housing market.
Maybe Asian gangs are infesting the streets of Anytown and maybe it is a serious issue. You can report on it without using derogatory language or implying that the race of people inclined to violence has something to do with their antisocial behavior. And before you say, “This is ridiculous – who is going to be posting things like this on the Internet”, do a little searching yourself and you might be surprised by the number of real estate ‘professionals’ who use their real estate blogs as platforms to discuss their personal worldview. Don’t make this mistake; keep your personal views separate from your professional blog!
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