On social media

These days there are all kinds of ways for people to communicate. When I was a teenager there was the telephone, regular mail, fax and the trusty old bush radio. People found out about news concerning friends and family through these technologies. Then everything changed.
Suddenly in the 90s computers began to appear and then came the Internet. As with most people I was dazzled by these new media and technologies. At the time I was finishing high school and these new communication tools were opening up a whole new world for me and so many of my friends.
Soon the Internet developed to the point where we could surf on line and visit all kinds of informative websites, do research on any topic and even meet people from all over the world and chat with them. The first people to develop all these technologies were very young and they were on the cutting edge of this of Internet production. They made a lot of money and changed the way we communicate with each other.
One of the most interesting and huge growth areas was in social media like ICQ, MySpace, AOL Instant Messenger and of course Facebook to name a few. Although sites, products and trends come and go on the Internet some of the social media really took off. Facebook made history just recently when it became listed on the stock market and publicly traded. The early developers and anyone connected with this successful social media became millionaires and in many cases billionaires.
There are many interesting things about social media sites as it allows people to post information about themselves, stay in touch with family and friends and the world at large.
People don’t realize just how much impact their social media activities can have on themselves and others. Too many users post very personal things about themselves, family and friends. Some more or less provide a daily account of what they do, their likes, dislikes, politics, lifestyles, opinions, routines, interests and work or school information. Many people also post photos of themselves, family and friends and much of the time without any approval.
All of this fascination with social media can be dangerous in that what you say, do and post on the site is more or less etched in history once it is up there for so many to see. As a matter of fact companies and government agencies are turning to social media sites like Facebook to research background on prospective employees. More and more companies and businesses are seeing the social media history of an individual as a resume for potential employment. This can be problematic if you have posted something that could be seen as a negative or detrimental in terms of your application for a job, access to post secondary education or any reason where your credibility is of interest to someone. So it is a good idea to be very careful what you post on Facebook and other social media sites.
Sometimes individuals try to use social media as a means to discredit other people, organizations, agencies and companies. Although Canada has protection for free speech sometimes people cross the line of what is legal, moral and fair when commenting on others.
It is very easy for a person to set up a Facebook account and then use it to spread misinformation about others. However, we all must remember that the rule of law also applies to Facebook and if an individual decides to spread or promote untrue information, nasty rumours or twisted facts about others then that could be considered libel or slander. That is against the law and the injured parties can sue anyone for libel and slander.
The fact is that you should be very careful about what you say about others in the many forms of social media. Once you have posted something that is nasty and untrue about someone that action could very well come back to haunt you and cost you dearly. All too often people hide behind anonymous names in commenting on all types of media sites. To me this is not fair and I really believe that people should not be able to post any view or comment about any issue or person without providing a name and address.
Recently, with all the news about Aboriginal people and the terrible housing conditions the people of Attawapiskat are living in, I noticed a lot of racist things being posted on all kinds of social media and news sites. Of course these were almost all anonymous posts as racists are generally cowards who spout hate as long as they are hidden from view. It would be a positive move to have all postings on the Internet feature a name and address. I am sure this would force people to be fair and careful with their words.
I caution people to be very careful when reading social media sites like Facebook that are negative about individuals, companies, organizations or agencies. Don’t think that just because someone says something that it is true or factual. Do your own research and look at those who are targeted, read media stories about them, Google their history and status and take the time to make contact to ask questions you might have. If you are posting negative and untrue information about anyone on line don’t forget that is against the law and you could be confronted with the necessity to prove what you are saying. That should make you think twice.