We live in a society in which each one of us wants to shoot off our mouths and have it go viral. Thanks to social media, we can.
Inexperienced people don’t understand the wisdom of not speaking the first thing that comes to their minds. Sometimes those thoughts need time to ripen or rot away. The problem is that without giving a second thought to your first thoughts, you might express a thought that hasn’t undergone your internal editor. Once you spew out something, on social media, it may forever come back to haunt you. No matter how fast you hit your delete button, social media has spewed out that message to the world.
The world has become a complicated place and spewing out your first thoughts is stupid. You don’t come to realize that until you have spewed out something you’d give anything to be able to take it back. Social media isn’t a forgiving place. You have to be prepared to have to take an accounting of your words to a future employer or intimate friend. It would help if you weighed your words in this moment as to how heavy those words will play later in your life.
I am heartbroken at seeing people jump to conclusions and then face the backlash of being wrong. Words have the power to either make you stronger or destroy you. You would be foolish to just fling them around recklessly.
The term, “just sleep on it,” is wise advice when coming to social media. Especially at a time when people are looking to be victimized or offended by your words. More now, than ever before, words have consequences. My advice is to either get off social media or be mature in the words that you utter. Be wise when silence is needed. Half of the people you encounter will agree with you and the other half will be offended. Knowing that, if you are going to be vocal, be vocal on the things that are important enough that you risk ruining your life.