Tuesday, August 7, 2012

What Not to Tweet

I have to admit that I have not been watching the Olympics, though I do admire the athletes for their strength, talents, and dedication to their sports. I have been reading several articles about athletes who have gotten in trouble, particularly the ones who were punished for what they wrote on social networking sites. A few athletes have actually been sent home because of offensive, racist Tweets that they posted.

I don't feel too sorry for those people, because they should have known better. Now all that hard work and effort that they put into competing in the Olympics has gone to waste, not to mention they may be remembered for their negative Tweets, not their accomplishments. 

It did make me think about how Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking sites have gotten people into trouble a lot in recent years. People have lost their jobs or even their relationships because of what they posted online.

I also made up some of my own Tweets that I imagined that the Olympic athletes might post online, if they were going to be really honest:

No applause...just send endorsements.

If there's no "I" in "team", then how come I'm the only one standing up on the podium?

Do you think if my mom started talking about my one-night stands like Ryan Lochte's mom did about his, maybe I'd get a bunch of publicity too?

You WISH you looked this good in a Speedo.

What's up with all these news stories about the athletes hooking up in Olympic Village? And why did no one tell me while I was playing Angry Birds?

Since I'm famous now, does that mean I get to start dating supermodels?

Don't hate me because I'm beautiful...and because I can run faster than you.

Now watch me laugh as I run away.

I'd like to thank my parents, my coach, and all the fans for supporting me, especially the good-looking fans who should call me.

Bronze is NOT the new gold.


Here are also some Tweets that I might put up if I was going to be really honest about my job:

Why is it that the students' cell phones always wake them up when they're in class, but my telling them to "WAKE UP! THIS IS NOT NAPTIME!" rarely does?

Now I understand why so many of my teachers were always so moody.

Once upon a time, people actually survived without texting. I know it's hard to believe, but it's true.

Thinking about doing your homework while you are hanging out with your friends is not the same thing as actually DOING your homework.

I think that teachers should get paid for the workshops on teaching that our department makes us go to, and we should get bonuses for doing those lame "ice breakers".

FYI? Ice breakers do not make those workshops more fun.

You know what would make the day more fun? Letting us go home, so that we can do stuff we want to do, like watch reruns of The Mentalist or play Angry Birds.

But even though I'd like to have a Twitter page, I don't have one because a) it seems like it'd be too time-consuming and b) I'm afraid I might get in trouble if someone took offense (and there's always the chance that that could happen, because in this country of lawsuits, somebody's always offended by something) to what I posted online. But I might still have a Twitter page eventually. I'll just have to be really careful about what I write. 

Don't get me wrong. Freedom of speech is definitely important. But I think that some people have taken that too far. It's one thing to express your opinion. We don't all have to agree with each other. But it's another thing to deliberately use your words to harm (or threaten to harm) other people. I believe that people should be held accountable for their actions and their words.

What do you think? Do you think that people like the Olympians (as well as people like us) should be punished for questionable things that they write online, or not?

15 comments:

  1. I love your fake tweets. Those are awesome.

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    1. Hi Ilima,
      Thanks! I like making up fake Tweets, especially since I don't have a Twitter page. One thing I like about Twitter is that it can serve as a good writing prompt.

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  2. I do wish I looked that good in a speedo *sob*.

    Bronze is NOT the new gold.

    I've really been enjoying the Olympics. You're missing out. I think I'm going to post about it tomorrow also. Mine will be writing related and not nearly as funny as your post.

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    1. Hi Theresa,
      I used to watch the Olympics when I was younger, but I haven't really watched them as I got older. If I had free tickets to watch the events, though, I would definitely watch, of course.
      I wish I looked as good as the Olympic swimmers do in their swimsuits. Then I wouldn't feel self-conscious when I go to the pool. I'd strut around and play that LMFAO song "Sexy and I Know It". :)

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  3. Hi Emily,
    Thanks! I wish I was good at sports. I think it'd be amazing to be as talented and athletic as the Olympians are. But so far all I've managed to do is go to dance classes at my gym and use the exercise machines without falling off them (at least, not as often as I did before).

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  4. Hahaha, loved your fake tweetst!

    In my opinion, whether Olympians/reporters/journalists or regular people like us should be punished for questionable remarks really depends on the situation. When it comes to the things that everybody knows is offensive, then yes--being punished for it I think is justified, because you knew it was offensive but you went ahead and said it anyways.

    However, there are some things that people say that they didn't know would be perceived as offensive--in that case, I don't think they should necessarily be punished. Just for the simple fact that they didn't know--if they didn't know it would be offensive and they sincerely apologize, I think it's a bit unfair to punish them for their mistake.

    I'm a huge basketball fan, especially a huge fan of Jeremy Lin--and a ESPN writer actually got fired for using the title "Chink in the Armor" in an article about Jeremy Lin. Even though he didn't know the title would offend the Asian-American community and he sincerely apologized for his mistake, he still ended up getting fired, which I thought was not fair at all.

    As far as Voula Papachristou's tweet, I thought it was justified that she was punished for it. Even though it was used in a humorous way and I'm sure she intended no harm, it's one of those things where it's off-limits because of how offensive it is.

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    1. Hi William,
      I wrote the fake Tweets, but I haven't read any real Tweets by any of the Olympians. I would think they'd be too tired to Tweet at this point.

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  5. Love your tweets! Especially the Speedo one and that one about icebreakers - so true!

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    1. Hi Deniz,
      Thanks! I never really liked icebreakers at those workshops, partly because I never remembered most of the stuff that people said about themselves. I just kept thinking about how much I wished I could be doing something else.

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  6. I definitely think they should know better, and as they are representing their respective countries, something should be done. I'm not sure about kicking them out of the Games, though - they're athletes, not public figures like politicians. I do hope they received some social media training/ guidelines beforehand. Some people are just clueless!

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    1. Hi Talli,
      It seems like whoever is in charge of the Olympics is pretty strict; I've read other stories of athletes who were sent home for partying too hard. I would never post anything racist or offensive, of course, but if I was an athlete and I was sent home for some other reason, I'd be devastated.

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  7. Definitely--more so because they are, given the sole fact of their participation in the olympics, so visible to just so many people. And they even represent their countries. Being a public figure entails a certain responsibility to make sure their comments don't insult people--or even at the extreme make people think negatively of the country they hail from.

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    1. Hi manimefrancess,
      You raise some good points, and I think that's why the athletes are held to such high standards. I don't think that I could ever be a public figure like that, because I'd be afraid of messing up too. If I were a public figure, though, I'd stay away from Twitter, at least until after the events, just in case.

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  8. Ice breakers hurt me on my insides. I loved your Olympic tweets! I remember life before texting. As a person who hates the phone I have to admit, I love the texting.

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    1. Hi Libby,
      I don't like answering the phone either, but then again I don't like texting. I think I'm biased against it because several of my students like to text during class.

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