“I was so wasted last night…me and my friends hit up all the parties. Can’t remember much, but who cares #YOLO” For those who are familiar with a tweet such as this, two words: permanent record.
The average number of tweets per hour is over one million. Twitter has drawn in over a billion users, including celebrities and politicians, but mostly young adults. The ability to be able to vent to the whole world about how bad your day is or just to say some witty remark or joke is incredible.
Humans desire to be loved, and Facebook and Twitter are easy ways for us to feel that we are a part of something significant. It gives us the feeling that people care. When I find out that I have a new follower or a friend request, it gives me a sense of acceptance inside.
Many people in the older generations do not like Twitter. They feel that is a waste of time and is just another distraction from real life. Though I see their point, it is just our way of connecting with each other and the world. Every generation has and will have their new way of interacting with one another, but what happens when we take our freedom to post as we please too far?
Anyone can say whatever comes to mind on Twitter or Facebook, with no immediate retribution. This can lead to cyberbullying; which can cause depression, fear and in the worst cases death. Those are only extreme cases as the average person does not bully another individual on the internet. Yet, there are other things said online that can cause issues.
Sexual comments, explicit language and talking about inappropriate behavior on any social website can and will negatively affect your life in the future. Many people “live in the moment,” not thinking of what the outcome could be. Not only does this apply to online communications, but in many other aspects of life.
A multitude of mistakes have been made by people “living in the moment.” Before I head out the door, my cousin never fails to tell me, “two words: permanent record.”
As funny as it can be when she tells me this, it does have a lot of worth to it. Anything that is tweeted or posted can be seen by anyone, no matter what the safety controls you think you might have on it. If the government needed to do a background check on you, all they would have to do is call up Mark Zuckerberg.
If Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest in the world with over 800 million users. The amount of information that they can access is inconceivable. That is why my parents, being the good parents that they are, always tell me to watch what I say. Anything can be used against you by your friends, family and even the court of law.
Not too long ago I created a Facebook group called Boycott Walgreens. The whole point of the group was to express how frustrated and angry I was that Fuddruckers was being replaced by Walgreens. I knew that when I created it, it would get some backfire. However, I was not prepared for the onslaught.
Many posts that people put up were funny, but most were inappropriate and utterly uncalled for. After a while, a good number of group members became upset with the people putting these random posts.
“I think the group was a fine idea,” one frustrated member said. “Folks just tend to be unnecessarily spiteful online. For those of you who are in this group – be careful what you post – both here and elsewhere. What you say online is not secret to the world, friends and family (or potential employers). Cordial conversations that are sensible, with respectful and tactful arguments to boot are both preferred and quite frankly, more effective.”
They continue with, “Random expletives and sexually explicit language does nothing to prove a point – it just comes across as belligerent noise. Be sensible people. Just because the online world gives us a sense of anonymity doesn’t mean you should trash and smear an idea just because you can without any real ramifications. We all have the right to free speech, but it came at a cost. Let’s not abuse the privilege.”
Do we, as Americans, have the right to freedom of speech? Yes, of course we do. However, I find it distasteful and unacceptable that the world believes that because they have this right that they can abuse what they were given without consequences. The foundations of this country were written with thoughtful words of freedom from tyranny, using quill and scroll. It frightens me that through the same way the founding fathers created the principles of this free nation, we have been unrestrained in saying what we please, using unthoughtful words, which in turn makes the value of words less important. It’s not that Twitter and Facebook are bad; it is just that we need to learn restraint. Be careful what you post. Zuckerberg is watching.