Social Media: A Double-Edged Sword

I recently read an article (Dangers of Twitter) that discussed that while Twitter has become an important tool for organizations to use to communicate with consumers, it has also become a threat to some businesses, professionals and even college students.

This article cited a few different instances where people have tweeted inappropriate things and lost jobs and more because of it. For example, the article cites the instance of Justine Sacco, a Public Relations professional who tweeted an offensive tweet that read, "“Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!”

This alone is extremely offensive and business professionals like herself should know not to put things like out this for the public eye to see. This is more proof that Twitter is a double-edged sword. It can be positive for sending out (appropriate) messages to target audiences in a quick and efficient way with a high reach, but it can also be dangerous because a slip like the one above can lead to the loss of a career or even a lawsuit. 

Many of the college age students that were interviewed for the article said that they would prefer that their social media accounts stay social so they could avoid the fear of being judged by potential employers. This is a fair dream, but it's just that - a dream. These days, monitoring yourself on any social media platform is 100% necessary, because a simple Google search can reveal some very unflattering things. It's important to maintain a professional presence no matter whether it is a blog, Twitter account, Facebook, etc.

The bottom line is, you can either use social media like Twitter to build your personal brand, or to tear it down - so it is more important than ever to make smart choices.