Tweeting social media with respect

I’ve always been afraid of blogs. In social media, I’m a back-seat writer; a passionate commentator but predominantly an observer. 

That’s all about to change. 

Before enrolling in QUTOJ1 (Online Journalism) I certainly never had a blog or, for that matter, any desire to permanently mark my daily thoughts, actions and motivations on the slate that cannot be wiped clean… the Internet. Perhaps it stems back to my primary school diary, its contents as well considered as its hiding spot. Needless to say…twin brothers and their nine-year-old friends aren’t kind when they find out your grade four crushes. I promise this blog won’t divulge my crushes, and is even less likely to be read by my brother,  yet I still think my blogging fears aren’t unfounded. In the online world, ‘the anonymous’ hiding behind keyboards and incandescent white screens are too, at times, unforgiving.  Some say commentary is the beauty, not the bane of online journalism… I’ll just wait until I get my first comments to decide.

Swimming Australia chief executive Kevin Neil was quoted in the The Sunday Mail this week and crystallised my thoughts on social media, particularly blogging. Relating to James Magnussen and his highly self- and widely-anticipated success and subsequent failure, he said, “most 21-year-olds learn that they’re not invincible in a pub somewhere…[not] on the world stage”. I’m no Olympic athlete, but the world factor of the World Wide Web scares me; its reach, perpetuity and faceless participants (and therefore lack of accountability) are all part of that.

Recent events have but highlighted the Internet’s risks.

Social media breaks down the gates that news directors and editors presided over for so long; choosing what would be news and what wouldn’t in a one-way asymmetric mode of communication. Come the internet; blogs, facebook, twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and anyone can be a publisher. No filter except your morals and common sense which, given a couple of wines on a Friday afternoon, can both easily be diminished.

Source: mashable.com

In the Olympics we find many examples. We’ve seen two athletes internationally expelled from the Games for tweets turned bad… all that training, hard work, money, nights in, wasted. Olympic dreams, gone. 140 characters and the tap of a button is all it takes. And closer to home Nick D’Arcy and Kenrick Monk, almost held back from competing in what seemed like déjà vu.

What was once a cheeky comment between mates at the pub…instead of bringing laughs (or at worst, disapproving looks) has seen the demise of reputations via online platforms. For Nick and Ken it was a holiday happy snap that almost cost them everything… again, for others politically incorrect jokes and insults.

Now there are suggestions that the pure act of tweeting, facebooking or Instagramming could throw careers into disarray.  Mounting pressure from “friends” and “followers” and the incessant bzz-bzz from the forum that never sleeps has become the blame of tired, stressed athletes and lost gold medals.

But while we’ve seen time and time again that misdirected comments and photos can seriously hurt anyone’s public and private profile (if there’s a difference anymore) the jury’s still out on whether twitter stole Emily Seebohm’s Olympic gold. One thing’s for sure… pro athlete or not, we all need to treat social media with the respect it not only needs, but as history shows us, demands. 

Now, to post this on Facebook or not?