Describe a time that you made a post, recording, text, or e-mail that you later regretted.
Last year in December, I took to Twitter to voice my personal opinion concerning 'the Black Lives Matter' movement that had become popular by that time. The campaign was essentially advocating for equality and fairness in treatment among races, especially for the blacks. I was in a bar, with friends and I was going through Twitter, following the tweets closely on that topic. I remember reading through a tweet that instantly provoked me, and I commented on it in the most impolite and disrespectful manner. I ended up making assertions that were embedded with racist opinions. I look back to that moment and regret that particular tweet.
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Why did you regret it, and what would you do differently?
I regretted posting that specific tweet because I was clouded with emotions that could not make me think objectively at that time. I let the person's opinion get to my head, and I felt like I was obliged to comment in retaliation to their remarks. I regret it because I acted in the most unprofessional way. I would approach the whole issue differently now. I will acknowledge that everyone on social media is entitled to their own opinion, however vile they are ( Dreyfuss, 2018) . It’s not also prudent to react to people's posts when emotions blind me. I would have looked at the post objectively and shared my feelings about it in a friendly, unbiased and professional manner.
Why is it important to be mindful about the things you attach yourself to digitally? Can your likes and retweets come back to haunt you?
It is crucial because it determines how other people perceive us on these digital platforms. People develop expectations and thoughts about someone depending on the type of things they are associated with online ( Steinberg, 2018) . It is possible that the things we like and retweet today can come back to haunt us ( Johnston, 2014) . This is because people's stand on these issues may shift in future, and they may wish to go back and delete their earlier tweet. It is entirely possible.
References
Steinberg, S. (2018). Social media etiquette: What’s safe to share on social networks? HuffPost. Retrieved from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/social-media-etiquette-wh_b_14500916
Dreyfuss, E.(2018). I'm deleting all my old tweets because nothing matters. Wired.com. Retrieved from https://www.wired.com/story/im-deleting-all-my-old-tweets/
Johnston, J. (2014). ‘Loose tweets sink fleets’ and other sage advice: Social media governance, policies and guidelines. Journal of Public Affairs , 15 (2), 175-187. https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1538
