The ugly side of social media

[MktgRob]

I heard an interview with a political pundit who, like many political pundits, is immersed in controversy on a regular basis because some people who do not agree with him are nuts and would like nothing more than to see some real harm done to him with the hopes that it will silence him. In the interview he revealed that while he was recently on vacation he found out through the security company he engages to protect his family that someone found out where he was vacationing with his family and was real-time tweeting his location and the activities he was engaging in as a private citizen with his family.

I will be the first to admit that I have specific views and I do no agree with some politicians and some news pundits. My disagreements with these people are based on values and beliefs and regardless of my disdain for their point of view I do not wish them or their loved ones any harm. But there are some nutjobs out there, on all sides, who view a violent act against people they disagree with as appropriate.

The actions of the person who was real-time tweeting the whereabouts and activities of this person are reprehensible and give a bad name to anyone who engages in social media. As people who work in this realm and seek to be successful in doing so, we need to work hard to shun these people if we come in contact with them and if they are part of the communities we create they should be outcasts.

All comments and thoughts are welcome.

[InsightsDigital]

This reminds me when I created a few meetups which is a form of social media if you think of it. The meetups attracted the targeted groups but it also attracted "missing links" or people who definitely did not share the vision of the group. You have to be diplomatic to deal with these outliners. It may turn off other members in the group. But what I find interesting is that these types of members are usually the most vocal/active or always there.

[MktgRob]

This reminds me when I created a few meetups which is a form of social media if you think of it. The meetups attracted the targeted groups but it also attracted "missing links" or people who definitely did not share the vision of the group. You have to be diplomatic to deal with these outliners. It may turn off other members in the group. But what I find interesting is that these types of members are usually the most vocal/active or always there.

That type always scream the loudest and protest the month. But when push comes to shove they are mostly cowards who cannot handle face to face, civil interation. They can create their own communities online and we who create communities have the equal right to exclude them for the sake of the larger community.

[InsightsDigital]

I agree. We as organizers put alot of work to make the community happen.

[MktgRob]

I agree. We as organizers put alot of work to make the community happen.

Of course, policing our communities for these people and kicking them out will invariably lead to lawsuits from groups like the ACLU the same way they recently went after a Christian Student group at a college for not allowing a muslim in.