Social Media expert David McMillan has written How to Ruin Your Life in 14 Minutes: Or Why We Need a Serious Conversation About the Ethics of Social Media in response to two Florida teenagers’ racist youtube rant. Haven’t heard of it? You’re in for a treat.
McMillan responds to this video in a way that more people should have:
“Condemning these two girls seems redundant at this point (the video and the vicious ignorance it displays speak for themselves), and although I’m African-American, I’m not compelled to expend too much energy criticizing their racist remarks. However, as an online content creator, a former YouTube employee during its formative years, and a social media professional and enthusiast, I am compelled to use this incident as a springboard for having a serious discussion about the role of ethics in social media.” -David McMillan
Right on, Dave. These girls don’t need our scrutiny, their lives are over. So, what now?
Now we try to educate future boneheads about social media. These are McMillan’s 5 key points of ethics in social media:
- In social media, there is no difference between public and private.
- Just because you can post something doesn’t mean you should.
- Your online and offline selves might not be identical, but they’re joined at the hip.
- Will what I post cause harm to others?
- Finally, call it the Social Media Golden Rule: post about others as you would have them post about you.
Anything you post online can be seen around the world if it is sought out to be seen. Remember that. When in doubt, ask yourself, “do I want billions of people to see this?”
Yes. Technically, we have the right to say anything (pesky First Amendment.) But there are consequences to our actions. Be prepared for them.
McMillan uses the example of a 3rd grade teacher by day, erotic fiction blogger by night. If found out, would the school fire you even though you keep your blog life extremely separated from your school life? You betcha. The two lives are separate, but both are you.
People feel a sense of security of obscurity in an online world. It can feel like the perfect platform for the ever-popular cyberbullying. Don’t. It’s not cool.
This doesn’t mean be the Miss America of Facebook. You can share your honest opinions and ideas without a sugar coating — just be ready for others to share their opinions, too.
These are of course just a few brief examples of ways to avoid making (the bad kind of) waves on the Internet. There seems to be a lot of common sense involved, no?
Tags: HuffingtonPostPosts