Does anybody else remember some of the early days of being online? Many pages lacked images because they took too long to download over dialup connections. Email still used dot-matrix printers which zipped back and forth across the page with a motion that reminded you of a typewriter. (If you’re too young to know what a dot-matrix printer and typewriter are, look it up. It will give you a chance to improve your research skills.) I remember a time when there was no social media. No Facebook. No Twitter. No Instagram. We weren’t constantly bombarded with announcements of what individuals were doing all day long.
FYI: I don’t need to know what you got from Starbucks. If you had a bad customer service experience, please return to the place where it happened and sort it out there instead of in a long diatribe on your social media account. If you have a problem with your family, please go have that conversation with them in private.
I did not sign up on social media to watch someone’s daily life play out. I’m not interested in your customer service problem at the local store. Lastly, I didn’t sign up to hear about the train wreck that you think your family is when, in reality, everyone’s family is a train wreck sometimes.
What I really never expected was just how awful some people can be on social media accounts. It’s like all the cowards in the world suddenly found a way to bully everybody while hidden conveniently behind a computer. They feel no accountability or responsibility for any havoc they create.
This came to my attention for the millionth time this week because of how people recently compared a game show contestant’s mustache to that of a horrible dictator. What kind of a person do you have to be to even think up that kind of comparison and then share it at an individual’s expense? Have we really reached a time when people are so cold, unfeeling, and awful that they find that to be funny? The sad answer to that is yes. Yes, we’ve reached a point in which anything can be said by someone online, and they can hide like a spineless jellyfish behind their social media account and make fun of anyone they want.
While I’ve been updating my blog, I’ve tried to be conscious of modifying old posts in which I felt that I had told someone else’s story. I hope it wouldn’t occur to me to use my blog to bully someone else like a pathetic loser, but I’m not afraid to call it like I see it either. It’s not okay to use social media to attack an innocent person because you want to make a joke at their expense.
When there are teenagers who have committed suicide because of cyberbullying, we have lost control in the online world. When false rumors can get a person fired, we are weaponizing social media platforms. When someone can make a joke comparing an innocent individual to a monstrous dictator, I feel that we have become a soulless society.
I don’t keep too many social media accounts because of these very issues. When I’m online, I don’t make negative posts because I abide by the adage: if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all. Just because something may be true, doesn’t mean I need to say it. I also remember that my online posts just might come back to haunt me so, even when I write my blogs in a fit of anger, I usually find myself editing them before I hit publish. Wouldn’t it be something if some of those bullies found their dream jobs but lost them after the interview because of their not-so-stellar social media presence?
Before making any kind of post online, ask yourself if it’s beneficial. If it isn’t, why are you making it? If it could hurt someone else, you’re already the bad guy, and there won’t be any fixing it once it’s out there.
For tips on your social media presence so it won’t come back to haunt you, check out some of these sites:
13 Social Media Rules to Live By
Don’t think it can come back to haunt you? Think again:
8 Times Candidates Didn’t Get Hired Because of Social Media
Is Your Social Media Preventing You from Being Hired?
The Impact of Your Online Reputation on Your Job Search
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Inspirational verses for the day:
“Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.” Isaiah 40:28-29 (NLT)
All Things Subject to Change 