Ajay: Hey! You okay? Sounds like some angry typing.
Friend: Just doing some venting on social media, Ajay.
Ajay: I dont mean to intrude, but I have been seeing you posting some really angry stuff recently.
Friend: Just speaking my mind.
Ajay: But do you think its a great idea to put it all out there?
Friend: Whats wrong in expressing myself? My profile is my personal space no?
Ajay: Your personal space, yes. But visible to the public. Did you hear about the Kanye West-Trevor Noah incident? Instagram suspended Wests account for a day for using racial slurs against Noah.
Friend: Oh!
Ajay: Your profile is not your personal diary. Now that social media has given us all a platform to publish ourselves, we have, in some sense, become the social media age-equivalent of traditional publishers. Now think about this, would a publisher or a newspaper editor put everything he/she feels in the publication?
Friend: No.
Ajay: The content we get comes after many levels of filtering, screening and scrutiny. They apply discretion and good sense to it. The same is applicable when we post on social media too.
Friend: I hadnt thought of it that way.
Ajay: Thats just not it. Your angry tweet could spread faster than you think leading to dire consequences in personal and professional life. People have lost jobs, been arrested. So you cant just go about saying its your personal space. Its not as simple as that.
Friend: Im going to take down everything right away.
Ajay: Apply some discretion. Thats all. Social media is designed to fuel anger. So always think before posting something. Abusive language is neither criticism nor expressing your opinion, its harassment. Always ask yourself if you would say the same thing you are about to post to a persons face. Be more respectful, more kind. Todays world needs it more than ever.