Lessons to be learned

In a way, Social Media can be so nasty.

But it’s not the first media that has encountered people that try to make their point from doing outrageous things.  If you’ve been around a while, you’re familiar with the term “Shock Jock”, referring to radio personalities who try/tried to make their way to fame and fortune with their message.  See here for a list of some.

The thing about these people is that they actually had to be hired to have a platform to share their messages.  And, if you know these names, you’ll know that some of them had to find alternative employment at times.

It’s somewhat easier these days to be a shocker with the use of social media.  From today’s news…

Brock University strips former professor’s emeritus status after ‘abhorrent’ posts

Anyone with a device, a social media account, and access to the internet could, and I repeat could, have posted a message like that or similar.  As you know, this isn’t the first of its kind and it won’t be the last.

“Rage”

Photo Credit: Free For Commercial Use (FFC) Flickr via Compfight cc

What’s similar about this sort of story is that the message strikes a nerve somewhere, a news source picks up on it, there’s outrage, there’s a consequence, the offending message is taken down, an apology is given, and then we move on.

Are we to consider this the new norm?  After all, anyone can have a voice on social media.  Do you need to be louder or more outrageous than the rest in order to stand out?

What lessons are our students learning by watching all this?

Advertisement