I hate to admit it but I adore the
immediacy of social media. By it's
very nature capricious, impromptu,
and hence unfiltered - it's can also
be quite cruel. Which means that
even in a digital age one must have
a sense of decorum. Plus a filter
that some insures that nobody gets
hurt unless they truly should. What
none of us realize is that all of this
vaporous venom never disappears.
Thus whatever has been written or
said is out there ready and waiting.
At the office you needn't bother to
delete. The fact is there is a record
of each and every thing you write.
Therefore one can be the victim of
an autocrat's cruelty or beneficiary
of their largesse. That's because
someone other than you has the
power to decide what, when, and
where whatever you've written is
used against you. Paranoia aside all
that's required to fight this threat is
common sense. In other words...
think before you write or... SEND.
The problem is it's all so easy. One
can jot off whatever comes to mind
prior to considering the ramifications
of whatever is now on record. There
is a subtle element of cruelty that is
enhanced by the immediacy of this
media. Thus one can quickly spew in
the heat of the moment only to regret
said emission post cooling off. The
problem is one cannot easily correct
one's mistakes once they've become
cyber reality. You wrote and posted
it. What's done is done. It is finished.
I struggle with both the good and
bad in all of this. Victims of abuse
can now tell their stories freely.
However cyber stalkers can also
falsely accuse and destroy quite
innocent peoples lives. Hidden
secrets and plots can be revealed.
Yet confidential information can
be violated and released. The end
result is a plethora of legal battles
over what in essence is already
done. Once others have seen it -
NOTHING can make it go away.
Human nature has always been exactly
that - natural. Therefore the sins of our
fathers were pretty much the same as
ours. Everybody makes mistakes. But
in days of yore, blackmail wasn't legal.
However today anybody can find that
nude snapshot of you in the trash and
freely post it for the world to see. The
fact is we have little to no control over
what other's spew. So whether we like
it or not there are few if any secrets in
our modern world. Hence one either
behaves or bares themselves at will.
Most of everything about everybody
is on public record. Via the web one
can quickly access all sorts of details
about someone else. From addresses
to phone numbers to legal actions to
convictions to political donations.
It's all out there for everyone to see.
Never has it been more important to
adhere to the sage advice - "DON'T
DO ANYTHING YOU DON'T
WANT YOUR MOM TO HEAR
ABOUT." What goes around comes
around on Google and Facebook!
Now I realize that just recently
I told you to tell your story. To
put that challenge into context -
whatever you say publicly is
exactly that - public. So as you
tell your tales be careful to make
sure that whatever you utter is
for everyone to see and hear. As
important, that all the details are
truthful, verifiable, and factual.
Otherwise one can get caught in
a battle between fiction and fact.
So tell it like it is... truthfully.