[quote]The digital age has rendered nobody anonymous. But the simple fact of the matter is some are less anonymous than others.[/quote]
It’s no secret: We live in a digital age.
Walk anywhere on campus and try spotting even a handful of students not connected to their iPhone or some other piece of newfangled technology. It won’t be easy. Try to find somebody with no presence on Facebook, Foursquare or LinkedIn.
If that person exists, he or she is probably too busy planning her wedding on Pinterest to be bothered with more conventional forms of social networking. For the rest of us, there’s nothing better than being able to market ourselves to a clearly adoring public. And no better platform exists for accomplishing that than Twitter.
As easy as it is to connect with loyal followers in a positive matter, it’s just as simple to have your image torn to shreds for a mere 140-character lapse in judgment. And the more popular you are, the harder you seem to fall.
Anthony Weiner learned that the hard way. After spending 12 years representing New York’s 9th congressional district for the United States House of Representatives, Weiner —married in 2010 — was forced to resign his post last June after tweeting an explicit photo to a female follower.
Jeremy Lin’s rise to stardom as a point guard for the New York Knicks made his presence felt in various media outlets everywhere. With that came name puns, the most notorious of them being “Linsanity.” But eventually, the media shifted its attention from simply playing the name game to making light of his Taiwanese heritage. The New York Post might have kicked this theme off when they put Lin on the back page under the headline "Amasian.”
But Jason Whitlock of Fox Sports took things to new extremes with an infamous tweet after Lin’s Knicks beat the Lakers. Whitlock tweeted: “Some lucky lady in NYC is gonna feel a couple inches of pain tonight.” The comment offended many in the Asian community and Whitlock eventually apologized.
The digital age has rendered nobody anonymous. But the simple fact of the matter is some are less anonymous than others. The politician representing one of the country’s largest districts, or the big man on campus playing Division I football. Both possess a lot more power and influence than the cashier at the campus coffee shop.
With that power comes added responsibility. Even a private Twitter account can’t hide from a savvy reader with the ability to capture a screenshot.
Post something stupid or criminal enough and people will take notice — for all the wrong reasons.