Week 8
In this weeks class we discussed the texts we had to read, and the subject of reputation, and how posts on social media, if not entirely thought through, can damage a person's reputation. The first text we had to read was about a seventeen year old girl named Paris Brown, who resigned from her position as a youth crime commissioner, due to her twitter controversy.
According to critics Paris Brown's posts on Twitter were homophobic, racist, and approved of taking drugs and being violent. The police of crime commissioner for Kent, states that she did not check Paris Browns social media before she employed her. But she also states that she was not intending on employing an angel, because no one is perfect, and everyone has made mistakes in their life. Nevertheless, she says that she will look for a replacement for the position of a youth crime commissioner, because she thinks that young people will benefit from it. Furthermore she asks people not to be too harsh on Paris, since she was only fourteen when she posted those controversial tweets. Indeed Paris responded to her posts by saying she was too young, and acted with boldness on the internet. She also apologized for any offence caused. She also firmly repeated that she's not homophobic or racist.
I agree that people should not be too harsh on her, since she was still young, silly and inexperienced when she wrote these posts, and she apologized for it and resigned from her job. She also deleted her posts. I think it's true that we all posted things we regretted at some point, and that we all deserve a second chance. But I also think that this should be an example for everyone, a reminder that we should think before we post something on the internet. Because once it is on the internet, it is difficult to remove it. It will be out there, for everyone to see, and to judge. Especially nowadays, social media plays a big role in our lives, it defines who we are, because we feel safe on the internet, and like to share information. Therefore a lot of employers look up their employees social media profiles to see if they can really trust them for example.
The second reading for this week was about a women called Justine Sacco. She posted a comment that related AIDS to a race.
She thought she was being funny and meant no harm, posting this 'joke' while being on her way to South Africa. When the plane landed, she realized that her joke was offensive, because a lot of people responded to it, and re tweeted it over 2000 times. She went on and deleted it, but at that time it had already gone viral on the internet. As a consequence she had to apologize in public, and lost her job. This is another example that shows how careful people have to be about what they post on the internet. Not everyone has the same sense of humor, and therefore what one might consider as funny, might be considered as offensive by someone else. Especially if a joke is racist, there is a big possibility that a lot of people will react negatively to it. And again I think people should think twice before posting stuff on the internet, because once it's released, it is impossible to remove it again.
Following the discussion of the fact that everything we post on the internet, will probably stay there forever, the Snap chat app was being mentioned. By using this app people can sent pictures to friends or family. But those pictures will only appear on their screen for a few seconds. This encourages people to sent silly pictures, because in theory, they are not being posted, they are only going to be displayed for a few seconds. However, there is the possibility of taking screenshots of a picture, so the person who receives the picture can still save it on their phone. In addition, there is the chance of sending a picture to the wrong person, and once sent, you can't undo it.
To conclude one could say that people should never trust the internet, and be more thoughtful about what they post, since it can't be erased from the entire internet, once it is posted. People should also consider the fact that by publishing stuff on the internet it will be visible for everyone. That is why people should reckon that they have to take responsibility for what they post, in case they get negative response to it. People have to understand that social media is not a diary, and it is not only observed by your closest friends and family, so you can't post anything you want, unless you want people to judge you according to your unthoughtful posts. We all have bad days, and some of the most regretful posts are done when we're in a bad mood. For this reason I think that it might be a good idea to go back to a physical diary, and write down all our thoughts and opinions in there. We might not get the attention we want, but at least we don't risk ruining our reputation. And if we read what we wrote, and it is embarrassing, or does not represent our opinion anymore, we can just rip out the pages and burn them. And they're gone forever.
references:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/apr/09/paris-brown-stands-down-twitter
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/22/pr-exec-fired-racist-tweet-aids-africa-apology
 |
| http://www.telegraph.co.uk |
According to critics Paris Brown's posts on Twitter were homophobic, racist, and approved of taking drugs and being violent. The police of crime commissioner for Kent, states that she did not check Paris Browns social media before she employed her. But she also states that she was not intending on employing an angel, because no one is perfect, and everyone has made mistakes in their life. Nevertheless, she says that she will look for a replacement for the position of a youth crime commissioner, because she thinks that young people will benefit from it. Furthermore she asks people not to be too harsh on Paris, since she was only fourteen when she posted those controversial tweets. Indeed Paris responded to her posts by saying she was too young, and acted with boldness on the internet. She also apologized for any offence caused. She also firmly repeated that she's not homophobic or racist.
I agree that people should not be too harsh on her, since she was still young, silly and inexperienced when she wrote these posts, and she apologized for it and resigned from her job. She also deleted her posts. I think it's true that we all posted things we regretted at some point, and that we all deserve a second chance. But I also think that this should be an example for everyone, a reminder that we should think before we post something on the internet. Because once it is on the internet, it is difficult to remove it. It will be out there, for everyone to see, and to judge. Especially nowadays, social media plays a big role in our lives, it defines who we are, because we feel safe on the internet, and like to share information. Therefore a lot of employers look up their employees social media profiles to see if they can really trust them for example.
The second reading for this week was about a women called Justine Sacco. She posted a comment that related AIDS to a race.
 |
| www.theguardian.com |
She thought she was being funny and meant no harm, posting this 'joke' while being on her way to South Africa. When the plane landed, she realized that her joke was offensive, because a lot of people responded to it, and re tweeted it over 2000 times. She went on and deleted it, but at that time it had already gone viral on the internet. As a consequence she had to apologize in public, and lost her job. This is another example that shows how careful people have to be about what they post on the internet. Not everyone has the same sense of humor, and therefore what one might consider as funny, might be considered as offensive by someone else. Especially if a joke is racist, there is a big possibility that a lot of people will react negatively to it. And again I think people should think twice before posting stuff on the internet, because once it's released, it is impossible to remove it again.
Following the discussion of the fact that everything we post on the internet, will probably stay there forever, the Snap chat app was being mentioned. By using this app people can sent pictures to friends or family. But those pictures will only appear on their screen for a few seconds. This encourages people to sent silly pictures, because in theory, they are not being posted, they are only going to be displayed for a few seconds. However, there is the possibility of taking screenshots of a picture, so the person who receives the picture can still save it on their phone. In addition, there is the chance of sending a picture to the wrong person, and once sent, you can't undo it.
To conclude one could say that people should never trust the internet, and be more thoughtful about what they post, since it can't be erased from the entire internet, once it is posted. People should also consider the fact that by publishing stuff on the internet it will be visible for everyone. That is why people should reckon that they have to take responsibility for what they post, in case they get negative response to it. People have to understand that social media is not a diary, and it is not only observed by your closest friends and family, so you can't post anything you want, unless you want people to judge you according to your unthoughtful posts. We all have bad days, and some of the most regretful posts are done when we're in a bad mood. For this reason I think that it might be a good idea to go back to a physical diary, and write down all our thoughts and opinions in there. We might not get the attention we want, but at least we don't risk ruining our reputation. And if we read what we wrote, and it is embarrassing, or does not represent our opinion anymore, we can just rip out the pages and burn them. And they're gone forever.
references:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/apr/09/paris-brown-stands-down-twitter
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/22/pr-exec-fired-racist-tweet-aids-africa-apology
Comments
Post a Comment