I am on Twitter. Yes, I really am…even though I’ve only posted some 192 times in the 6 or so months I’ve been on there…I AM ON TWITTER. And, so are a lot of other people. Some people have even become twittaholics (already…). And while people will block content on their pages from the masses, it doesn’t mean an electronic trail hasn’t been left on the world wide web.
I realize that at 24, there’s a slight chance possibility that I may run for public office in 20 years. There’s an even greater chance that I’ll be an influential businesswoman in that same time frame *fingers crossed*. With that said, I choose to filter the thoughts I express in the blogosphere and on social networking sites because I don’t want something coming back to bite me in the derriere when I’m 44-years-old and hopefully married with adolescents…*fingers crossed on that too*. But, I don’t think everyone has thought about that. I think in getting caught up in the hype and controversial statements that secure more “followers”, people have abandoned reason for laughs and keyboard-stroked smdh’s.
For example, it may be funny when you first read about the Twitter wars that certain reality show personalities participate in, but do you really think they’ll want to be reminded of their trivial battles years from now? On second thought, maybe they will since it will keep them relevant. Here’s a better example: what about the young man who is 17-years-old? He decides amongst his high school buddies that it’s a good idea to post demeaning comments about his weird Algebra 2 teacher. His Twitter account is “locked” (meaning it won’t show up in the public timeline), but a “frenemy” has infiltrated his camp as a “follower”. This “frenemy” decides he’s tired of this popular young man stealing all the girls away at school and being the hater that he is decides to print and distribute this guy’s posts around the school. Well, since he had a profile pic worthy to be a senior headshot with “@prettyjock09″ next to it, it’s easy tell who wrote the posts. Next thing you know, “@prettyjock09″ is sitting at home with a 90-day suspension. Don’t believe me, check the Memphis news outlets where a high-school boy was served a 180-day suspension for comments he made on a social networking site.
This post can take a turn and I can begin talking about the problematic accessibility of these networks and their threat in replacing wholesome human interaction, but I’ll save that one for later. For now, I just want to remind everyone to think twice before writing 140 characters that could damage your future self’s prospects and hold on to reason in the meantime. Trust, Twitter is the “ish” right now, but remember in ’04 when facebook was or in ’99 when Blackplanet was or even in ’96 when AOL Instant Messenger was the real ish? Well, now only your parents are on AOL, Blackplanet doesn’t exist (or does it?), and yep, your parents are on facebook too! Don’t let a transitory fad diminish your light! Let’s shine in ’09 people…okay, I’m done.
Think Twice – Erykah Badu
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