Social Media Slip-Ups
By Lynne Bell
听
听听听听听听听听听听听 Social media slip-ups are fast becoming the rule rather than the exception during election season anywhere.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Recently, in the run-up to Saskatchewan's provincial election, NDP leader Cam Broten removed candidates from his campaign for 鈥渋nappropriate鈥� social media posts that were 鈥渙ffensive鈥� (in varying degrees) to women, men with manners, the fine folks of Swift Current and-oh dear-even the Premier's mother.
听听听听听听听听听听听 However, the real kicker has to be a comment posted by one former political hopeful who put a two-word phrase that is so objectionable, I'm hesitant to even repeat it. But for the sake of reader clarity and full disclosure, here goes: this fellow put the words 鈥渟tupid鈥� and 鈥渇armers鈥� together in the same sentence, without a word to separate them---in Saskatchewan!
听听听听听听听听听听听 This alone might be an indication that the poor guy might be in the wrong line of work (or province!), but before I get too judgemental, I can't help but think a little 鈥淭here but for the grace of God go I...鈥� might be in order.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Even though my presence on social media resembles a great insomnia cure, I can certainly relate to foot-in-mouth syndrome. #AskAnyone...And I think that most of us have said things in haste that are-at the very least-cringe-making. And I think most of us have made an ill-judged remark we wish we could take back seconds after we've uttered it. (Kind of like that moment when you close the car door, realizing your keys are still in the ignition...).
听听听听听听听听听听听 Part of the problem is that there's a permanance to the written word that just doesn't seem to apply to things we say out loud in the presence of real human beings. Social media may give its users听 the perception of intimacy, but in reality, anything posted on social media has the potential to reach far beyond what the writer may expect.
听听听听听听听听听听听 As leader of the NDP, Cam Broten addressed each case of social media slippage in his party individually, saying in one statement: 鈥淚 don't think anyone wants this campaign to spiral down into a thing where it's trawling through Facebook and Twitter accounts and finding every example of a bad joke or an off-colour statement,鈥� but also affirming his 鈥渮ero-tolerance鈥� for sexually inappropriate and violent posts concerning women.
听听听听听听听听听听听 Broten's right on both counts. Posts that are violent, racist and/or misogynistic are as offensive on social media as they are as if they're uttered out loud. At best, they show extremely poor judgement and at worst, they show aspects of someone's worldview that renders them unfit for public office.
听听听听听听听听听听听 But if听 less-offensive (well, let's call them merely dumb) social media posts are viewed without a sense of perspective and proportion, the examination of important election issues can be derailed by a witch-hunt via Facebook and Twitter.
听听听听听听听听听听听 And that might be the biggest slip-up of all.听
听
You determine your fate on social media
By Kelly Running
听
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 In the world you always have to watch what you say, but this has been magnified in the age of technology. You make a comment on social media and just like that you鈥檝e created a fury of backlash. Sure, you can delete the comment, but it might not really be gone as nothing on the internet is gone forever, especially when someone has the capabilities to take a screenshot and share it.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 In Saskatchewan this is becoming even more evident as the provincial political race heats up. Usually if some random person makes a comment it is just seen by their friends, and oftentimes friends agree with the person posting. However, when it comes to running for public office, your actions and what you say become scrutinized by those you鈥檙e looking to represent.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 As a regular person you鈥檙e told that whatever you put up on social media is out there for anyone to find. For this reason, an employer might look you up and this could affect whether they hire you or not. Additionally, a company may not like what you鈥檝e posted and depending on their policy may be able to terminate your employment because your actions represent that company as you鈥檙e an employee.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Although the world is not simply seen in black and white, there are grey areas, it becomes glaringly evident that even these grey areas can radicalize people looking at your comments.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 I鈥檝e seen memes online that point to the need of a lock on your phone for when you鈥檝e been drinking so you don鈥檛 post something stupid. The meme is in jest, but at the same time it points out the biggest thing about the internet: there is no filter other than yourself and if you don鈥檛 think about what you say before you say it there could be repercussions to the nth degree.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 So before posting anything I鈥檝e read that you鈥檙e supposed to ask yourself a few questions鈥� Would you say it in person to your boss or at work? Did you question whether you should post it? If the answer to these questions is that you wouldn鈥檛 say it in a professional setting and that you second guessed yourself before posting it, you probably shouldn鈥檛 put it up.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Yes, you can change your privacy settings, but are your Facebook 鈥渇riends,鈥� all people you could say anything to or is someone going to take offense to what you say? Would they take a screen shot of it and share it with others? Private isn鈥檛 always private these days and it鈥檚 a tough thing for people to always understand that.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 It鈥檚 ultimately your decision of how you want to be portrayed on social media. Recently there was a girl who set up an Instagram account. It followed her 鈥渓ife鈥� of moving to a big city, breaking up with her long term boyfriend, falling into drugs, getting plastic surgery, becoming self destructive, but owning up to her decisions by apologizing, recovering, and later finding a new boyfriend.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 It was all fake, the girl is an artist and the entire Instagram account was a performance, a work of art in the age of technology. Although the life of the girl she portrayed was made up, this work of art is an example of how you choose what people see of you on social media and how they perceive you as a person.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 And this is made even more evident in the current Saskatchewan political landscape with candidates resigning and being dropped by their party because of comments they made on social media.
