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On the drive into work today, I was listening to “This Week in Google“, one of the amazing podcasts from the TWiT network, hosted by Leo Laporte.  In the most recent episode, one of the guests spoke briefly about how he felt that he could let non-direct Twitter messages and Facebook wall posts to him go without reply, but he felt obliged to respond to emails and direct messages.  This got me thinking about the “Social Obligation” that I feel with various forms of communication.

In each of the mediums mentioned (and I’ll throw in SMS, blog comments, and forums), the person leaving the message is able to post directly to you — the biggest difference is that some of the messages are public and some are private.  Ironically, the items that are private (direct messages in Twitter / Facebook, SMS, email) seem to be the ones that I feel most obliged to respond to, whereas it feels “ok” to leave the public comments hanging without response.  I’m not sure if I think that “someone else can reply for me,” or if being public is less personal, and therefore less necessary to respond.

On the flip side, there is a particular expectation that we set whenever we send a message to someone.  I may not expect Sally to thank me personally for the birthday greeting I posted on her Facebook wall, but if I post a public message to @SouthwestAir or @ComcastCares, I have an expectation to get a response.

What do you think?

• Which social obligations do you feel?
• How do you feel when you post a public or private comment to someone and they don’t respond?
• If your company or business is on Twitter, do you respond to every public or private message?