(4/4/2013) Note: Sorry the audio is so bad, I could hear it just fine when I had my headphones plugged in but without them I can't hear it at all. Here's a transcription:
"Growing up around social networking,
I've noticed that people have a tendency to be too outspoken, and in
many cases it's offensive. It's so easy to publish online material
now that most people don't think much about what they're saying.
Until the last decade or so, your journal was the only place you
really put your unedited thoughts. Now everyone can read them.
Granted there are lots of positive thoughts shared, but we need to be
careful about what we say online! Let me read you a comment I found
on FB today:
"'The gay agenda is all about
destroying the family... they feel the need to justify their
immorality by telling everyone else that we must accept it.'
"Look, there is no persuasive argument
here. It's simply hating on someone else. Hating has existed since
the beginning, but the ability to communicate it has not until now.
What we say has a much stronger influence than it did in the past,
and we need to use that power wisely. I believe in expressing
personal beliefs, but let's do it with appropriate tact and respect
for others."
I definitely learned this with my blog post on leggings! Something else to think about is the fact that whenever we post anything online, it's not only there for all to see, but it's there for all to see in a very permanent way. One of the biggest problems with the "anonymity" factor of posting online, is people often say things that they would never say to someone in person. You don't have to really see the consequences of what you say, so you're less guarded.
ReplyDeleteBefore we post anything online, I think we should go through and really consider if what's contained in the post is something we'd say in a regular conversation (with a stranger and/or someone you care about).
I recently did a study on the way people present themselves on Facebook. It was found that, overall, people post more positively than expected by chance. Now, the sample size was extremely small for something like Facebook, but I hope that a better structured study of the same nature would have similar findings. It was also found that Facebook users try to present their best or "hoped-for" selves. Now, if this is the case with most people, why would you want to publicly expose your "worst self" by posting things you would never say out loud? Is it because we have more time to justify or rationalize our better judgement? Maybe. Is it because those are things we've always *wanted* to say out loud, but have been too shy to share? Possibly. In any case, I completely agree with what you're saying here. Just as we should all think before we speak, let's make a greater effort to think before we post! :)