Don't Tweet Trouble

In the last few months we have heard at least a dozen controversies related to social networking sites and blogs. Laymen have lost jobs and ministers have lost their cabinet berths. Reporters have been fired and diplomats have been snubbed.

While facebook, twitter and blogger have made every man a super man and every lady a wonderwoman, they have created a himalayan imbalance in our lives. The conflict between personal opinion and official stand had never been rare. What is creating chaos these days is, the opinions which were limited to a close group of friends are reaching out to millions. While emotions run high among humans, it is not easy to stop yourself from tapping a tweet on your smartphone. By the time emotion settles and you realize what a misfire it was, news channels are already discussing it. Then starts protests, effigy burning, war of words and so on. This whole new set up gives no scope to damage-control. I have even seen some people closing down their accounts and many more are confused.

While the concept of social networking has empowered us to a new level, it expects us to display a great amount of restraint and responsibility.

To play safe what I do is- Access Facebook and Twitter once a day and before I post anything I’m very clear, it’s not going to cause any trouble. If in dilemma, I don’t post at all.

Happy Tweeting!