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A week ago someone made a remark on my social media that could have been construed as being racist or at least bigoted. Maybe not elsewhere in the world, but certainly in South Africa. After alerting him about it he apologized and deleted it. It was not a rant, but nevertheless marginal.
With this in mind and given the absolutely stupid remarks made on social media from time time, I asked myself whether people actually understand the nature and reach of electronic and specifically social media. Is it ignorance or just plain stupidity? I mean we are talking about senior politicians, spokes people of these, CEO’s and MD’s who are often the culprits…
So here are some guidelines to help:
Realise that everybody in this world (homo sapiens) are first human and should be respected and treated accordingly. And that includes gender and sexual preference. No matter what your fundamentalist cult/religion says. They just want to keep you lazy in your thinking so they can have social control over you – keep the high ground even in your thinking damn it!
Also, there is no such thing as a private discussion, specifically using equipment (telephones included) – think of a poor Springbok Coach some years ago… Consider this, when someone is a good listener on the other side then they are probably recording you or saving that sms for later use (think of a poor high court judge, recently)
And remember, Twitter is not sms, it is a 140-character shout out to the world! What you type there can become worldwide news in minutes!
Do not, I repeat do not type, or say anything when under the influence. And that includes your emotions! Even if it is uttered to a Best Friend for Life or a mistress/person-stress (specially them, as they have a way of keeping score)
And remember when you have “done the deed” no amount of apologizing, or stating you are not a racist will help (this again is a question of “you cannot un-ring a bell”)
And if, like my good, friend you innocently do something that can be construed wrongly then just delete it and go on. Because you see, in our country there are also people (predators) who seek out even the smallest of indiscretions for gain, to use as leverage just to create division between people. In my estimation they are as bad as the crude bigots and racist out there.
