Social media can be a truly blessed and wonderful thing … some of the time.
It can allow people to connect who haven’t seen each other in decades, to share some unique and terrific stories, or to receive assistance for fundraisers and other initiatives.
It can also serve as an argument against evolution.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other platforms are just like anything else: most of the people you encounter on them are good and reasonable people who bring decency and common sense to the table. They’ll go on, post something every once in a while, click like a friend’s photo or a tweet, and then find something better to do with their time.
They outnumber the keyboard warriors.
But you have to wonder about what goes on in the minds of some people when they log onto Facebook or Twitter.
Some have the same temperament on social media as they do in their day-to-day lives, which is frightening. They’re hotheaded, narrow-minded and incapable of having a rational discussion. Many of them fit under the classification of CAVE – Citizens Against Virtually Everything. You can tell these types – they’re perpetually negative, they don’t have anything constructive to say, and, sadly, they aren’t smart enough to know any better.
If it fits their agenda, they’ll believe it.
But then you get those who should know better. They’ll spout off on something with opinions that aren’t true or accuate. A simple fact check could save them from making a fool of themselves. In the time that it takes to make your post, you could pause, think twice, double-check your facts and then find out if you’re posting the truth or something erroneous.
(This also applies to those who post out of pre-conceived notions or, even worse, conspiracy theories).
Others think they can say and so what they want with impunity. Perhaps they won’t use their actual name, or they will have a second account. One social media account that they use will have their real name; another one that they use has a phony name and an even more phony profile picture.
For whatever reason, some out there think that something they posted or shared or did on social media won’t come back to haunt them. They think that because they deleted it quickly, or because it was done 10 years ago, that it will never surface. But they’re wrong. It could still be found by someone who has a strong enough understanding of the Internet.
And then they cry when it does become an issue, once it costs them a job or another opportunity. If you don’t want something said or done on social media to haunt you in the future, then don’t do it in the first place. Young and stupid is not an excuse.
I’ll be honest: I’m glad there wasn’t social media when I was in high school or university. I can imagine my parents reminding me to watch what I say, to not get embroiled into silly arguments, and to not post pictures I would regret in the future.
I can guarantee that I would have done something stupid. I would have done multiple stupid things on Facebook. And those actions would still be floating around the web for people to see.
I didn’t get a Facebook account until I was 28, when I had a much stronger sense of self-control. I’ve had a few social media blunders, but nothing that I would expect to ever come back to haunt me if I decided to say, run for elected office. (Not that I’m planning to run for elected office).
Marshall McLuhan, the great Canadian media scholar who was one of Canada’s great minds of the 20th century, once famously said, “The medium is the message.” When he made that statement, the mediums were limited. Even something like home computers weren’t a concept when McLuhan uttered those words.
In this day and age, I prefer to believe that the medium alters the message. Words that are said face to face or in a phone conversation are very different than words said via e-mail or text message or a social media message. There’s something that I find so juvenile and insincere about an apology made over Twitter or text message.
At the same time, a debate over text message or social media is very different from that debate via phone or in face to face. Twitter debates are probably the worst. Not only are you limited to 280 characters, but you find yourself in a situation in which you’re not only debating that person, you’re debating all of their followers.
And for the keyboard warrior crowd, they love the gang mentality crowd when it comes to social media debates.
We can’t expect social media sites to babysit us, nor should we complain when a post get deleted.
They’re giving us a free platform. Accept it or leave that platform.
In the meantime, we should aim to expect better of ourselves and to exercise common sense and good judgement, especially on social media.
