Osama Bin Laden’s death has been bombarding media outlets all over the world. It has been dominating the news, radio stations, talk shows, and Facebook.
Lots of people have been constantly updating their status with their feelings and thoughts about the death. And though the Internet is perfect for this kind exchange of ideas, there is a point where people need to proofread what they post.
Lots of recent updates have been rushed to keep up with the current news, and lots have disregarded the fact that friends they may have will see the update, or that their profile is set to public and anyone can see their profile.
A website, youropenbook.com, allows anyone to type in a few words, and it will search out public profile updates that contain the words used.
Now, you can go on and type in “Osama Bin Laden” and your favorite derogatory term, insult, slur, or just the word “dead” and you will get a multitude of responses from public profiles.
The nature of the Internet is to promote the exchange of ideas, and there aren’t any rules against posting derogatory things on your Facebook, but for the sake of decency and your reputation, please think about what you write before you post it.
A recent trend with employers has been to check employees-to-be’s Facebook accounts in order to have a closer look at who they hire. Seeing insensitive and thoughtless posts about various things would likely deter a job opportunity.
Caught up in the Osama Facebook explosion were a few quotations by Martin Luther King Jr. and Mark Twain. Opposite of derogatory, these quotes were posted by people in order to make a statement about the country’s “celebration” about Osama’s death.
Little did most users know is that neither quotes were not full quotes or actual quotes from King or Twain. King’s quote has been cut mostly, while Twain’s is completely wrong, and was originally quoted by Clarence Darrow. Darrow was an American lawyer and leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union who died in 1938.
Various Internet news sites posted about this mishap shortly after it was popular on Facebook.
It is just a simple mistake a lot of people made, as they may agree with what a friend posted and would re-post it, but it provides another invisible check against your image when it comes to employers and other friends.
Often, we post status updates, not realizing that even the most unexpected people will be reading them, and making an unconscious judgment about our character. And honestly, what will celebrating Osama’s death do for you? I highly doubt that he will be offended in his grave, even if he gives a flying hoot about your opinion. If anything, it’s shallow and detrimental of your own reputation.
What I’m advocating isn’t the limitation of what is said on the Internet. I fully support the Internet’s power in what it can bring, both good and bad. What I’m after is sensibility, and more thought.
Updating your Facebook is as easy as texting someone, so it’s very easy to just update carelessly about what we are doing or what has happened.
But when it comes to matters that are controversial, it wouldn’t hurt if people would gather their thoughts for a minute or two and think about what they are posting before it’s on your wall, with your picture right next to it, for the world to see.
Although we all love to utilize our first amendment right guaranteeing our freedom of speech, racy status updates could cost you that long aspired job position you’ve been wanting.
