I remember being in college and having multiple professors warn the class of the dangers of having a Facebook account with pictures of ourselves displayed for the world to see after having too much to drink or dancing like idiots at our local watering hole. Some companies pay people to sit in a room and research potential hires by going on their Facebook and seeing how much you party or what kind of statuses you post. Here we are only a few years later and it isnât just college graduates that have to worry about making fools of themselves for the entire world to see, it’s everyone.
In the days that have followed the horrible disasters in Japan, comedians, celebrities, and business execs have met their maker of social humiliation, all at the hands of a little blue bird, Twitter. Consider these insane comments: “u just never knw! They did Pearl Harbor so u can’t expect anything less,” (former WNBA star, Cappie Pondexter) or “They don’t go to the beach. The beach comes to them,” (comic Gilbert Gottfried, who was fired from his role as the voice of the Aflac duck). They have got to be some of the worst utterings people have actually said out loud since, “Those pants are so awesome” to MC Hammer in the early 90s. Now, looking back, Iâm sure most of these public figures are saying to themselves, “What was I thinking?”
Whether you may think something is funny, intelligent, witty, or just plain cute, nothing goes unnoticed in this global web of social media. Whether you tweet, blog, post, delete, re-post, accidentally sneeze and pocket-post, your thoughts and comments are there for the world to see, criticize, make fun of, praise, or even get you fired.
So when is too much information just TOO MUCH INFORMATION to be sharing with our socially tapped community? . When did social media outlets become a public to-do list? Well, some examples include letting the world know your every move. There’s the person who is always letting us know that theyâre studying, making a sandwich, eating a sandwich, going to the mall, then watching Gossip Girl, American Idol, then sleeping Then, there are those posts with a beating heart on their sleeve, “You said that I was the one, well why did you leave me?” Blah blah blah. Itâs a Facebook status, not a therapist’s couch. Spewing constant remarks about your love life will only help guarantee that you donât have one. No one wants to be dating the “Taylor Swift of Twitter”.
The great thing about social media is it helps you connect with millions of people instantly. You can be introduced to new trends, find common interests with people from all walks of life, show people the funny video of your co-worker walking around with toilet paper stuck to their shoe, or, like a lot of people, try to “be funny” and lose your job as a talking duck because you mindlessly offended the whole world with your loud mouth.
Don’t be scared, fellow tweeters and posters. IÂ do want to know when you’ve had “the best cupcake of your life” or are “so mad because no one in this town knows how to drive.” I am interested in the, “weird but awesome site that puts Barry Manilow’s face on cats bodies.” Don’t loose your identity amidst the mass crowds that make up the social interactive sites, just make sure you don’t MC Hammer-ize yourself and find yourself saying, “Shoot. Why did I do that?”
Happy Tweets,
LC