Do you realize how easy it is to communicate now? It wasn’t that long ago, you would need the backing of the news media and a dozen production people to get your message out.
As little as ten years ago (2006), the barriers were crumbling, but you still needed a computer and some software knowledge. Now, all you need is a smartphone and the social media platform of your choice.
Today, a teenager can potentially reach as many people as William Randolph Hearst did at the turn of the Twentieth Century. She doesn’t need a television crew and access to a communications satellite to broadcast a live video. She can simply use Facebook Live.
With that easy access comes the potential for people to wreck their own reputations, or to put their best foot forward. I shudder to think what I would have published when I was a teen and how it would affect the person I am today.
We are all publishers now. Most people don’t realize the power they have to influence the world or wreck their reputations with a tweet or a comment. We as a society are still coming to grips with it.
When it comes to what you say online, choose wisely, my friends… and enjoy this new power!
