Social media, which is to include this blog, is the biggest fad in our nation right now. From twitter (which I do not participate in) to facebook (which I of course participate in) people everywhere are placing their thoughts in public view. People love to talk about themselves. Our favorite part of a conversation is when we're talking. And our second favorite part is when people respond to what we say. With social media, we get to talk and talk as much as we want regardless of if anyone else cares, perfect for us narcissists.
It seems that certain people (public officials) seem to forget sometimes that their social media (facebook page) is not their own personal diary and other people can see (and will hold them accountable for) their comments (about how much they hate gay people).
If you haven't noticed yet, I'm specifically referring to the Arkansas school board district member who made anti-gay comments on his facebook page. The comments were especially explicit, even saying he was glad gay people got Aids, and that they should all commit suicide.
Interested in the full story on CNN? Click here.
This issue goes even beyond this one incident, however. It doesn't matter if were are an elected official or not (although I think it's probably worse if you are), what you say on these sites, in the public eye, you better be able to stand by. The Arkansas school board member resigned from his job to spare the school district the bad press of having such an intolerant member.
In this modern age, some politicians are using social media to reach out to their voters, or to communicate with the press and other politicians. In this sense, the forum is increasing the accessibility and speed of communication. Officials who routinely utilize social media forums for this purpose, however, tend to be a lot more careful about what they say. They realize that they are accountable for their views and only post those that they want others to know and that they do not think will be detrimental to their campaign or career. If only every one who used a social media site felt that way.
As a worker in the healthcare field, I get emails on the regular about how we cannot violate patient privacy (protected by HIPPA) when we write on social media sites. In one incident, two emergency department nurses (unrelated to any hospital in Austin) took cell phone pictures of a man's body part when he was brought into the ER and posted the picture on their facebook sites with comments about how gross it was. Subsequently they were fired. Not only were they breaking the law, but they were sending a negative impression of the healthcare facility they worked for by implying that things like that happen. And they lost their jobs over it.
But how are all these people getting caught? OH RIGHT. It's the internet, and EVERYONE can see it.
We need to think before we type. How does this represent me as a person? As a representative of the company or group that I work for, how would they feel about this? Online forums are not your personal diary people, so save the racial slurs, homophobic rants, and all around negative vibes for the one that you keep under your mattress.
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