Hi,
today I read an article in the Wall Street Journal about employees who have been fired from their jobs because they posted 'derogatory remarks' about their employers, fellow workers or their actual place of work. I'm torn between the right to freedom of speech vs. the transparency of the internet and it's ability to go viral on issues or items. Should we have to watch everything we say and print for fear of losing a job or friends? Maybe the issue is that we, as a society, now think that ever thought we have is a brilliant one and the whole world should know it right away. Hence the popularity of Twittering. Did really need to know that Taylor Swift got a haircut yesterday and it looked cute? Was this news worthy? Did I care?
No and no.
I blog and so do millions of others. I try and be respectful of my friends and family, their privacy and their feelings. It's a fine line to walk when you want to kvetch. You used to be able to chat over the backyard fence. Then it was a cranky phone call that allowed us to vent. Now it's the internet and the whole world is listening in. Should we filter our thoughts? That's a slippery slope to censorship in some minds, but do we have the right to lash out either. I was always told that your rights end at the tip of someone elses' nose. In other words, you can swing that arm but when it collides with someone else it's not longer within your own right. Flinging words around can be just as dangerous. That pen (keyboard) is just as mighty as the sword (Ozi), if not more so.
Picking your spot to vent your woes is now a dicey endeavor. We all have items of concern and talking about them helps us deal with the stress of carrying them around on our own shoulders. Sometimes others are even able to help solve problems for us because they've been there themselves. The solution seems to be in the dialogue rather than in the tirade. I think if we went back to talk to people, face to face, there would be a whole lot less legal action taken because of the miscommunication in print. I say we all go out into the backyard and find a neighbour to yak with. It's still the best place to kvetch.
xox
m
While researching a paper for a leadership course recently, I came across an article about "leader wellness". It spoke to a leader needing a safe harbour...a friend who "cares more about you than the issue". When one dumps everything on the net or into some other public forum, he or she ventures into a whole lot of unsafe harbours. To my mind, a derogatory or inflammatory public vent opens a door and the venter gives up the right to cry foul when someone walks through that door and responds unfavourably. Just my two cents.
ReplyDeleteKeep it up Mar. You always give me something to think about!!