The wonderful thing about Twitter is it’s fast and easy to post a tweet. You think of something, fire off 140 characters (or less) and a tweet is published to the world.
The downside is tweets are easy and fast to do, which also means that firing off a tweet that may not, in hindsight, be such a good idea is also possible.
The great case in point is SportsNet broadcaster Damian Goddard, who tweeted his opposition to same-sex marriage. In the name of free speech, Goddard had every right to talk about his position, irregardless of whether you agree with him or not. The problem is Goddard is a public figure who works for a high-profile sports network. Now, SportsNet has apparently fired him.
It begs the question whether Twitter is a good forum for someone such as Goddard to express his personal views, or whether he should be expressing them publicly at all in any forum.
I have to admit there are times when I see an article or blog post, which makes me want to fire off something critical or snarky. And there have been times when I have typed in 140 characters. But just before hitting post, my inner editor always comes to the rescue by posing the question: “Is this tweet really necessary? Is there an upside to doing it, or will it just cause unnecessary aggravation”.
It’s something Goddard should have seriously considered before he hit the “publish” buton.
Career Suicide via Twitter
The wonderful thing about Twitter is it’s fast and easy to post a tweet. You think of something, fire off 140 characters (or less) and a tweet is published to the world.
The downside is tweets are easy and fast to do, which also means that firing off a tweet that may not, in hindsight, be such a good idea is also possible.
The great case in point is SportsNet broadcaster Damian Goddard, who tweeted his opposition to same-sex marriage. In the name of free speech, Goddard had every right to talk about his position, irregardless of whether you agree with him or not. The problem is Goddard is a public figure who works for a high-profile sports network. Now, SportsNet has apparently fired him.
It begs the question whether Twitter is a good forum for someone such as Goddard to express his personal views, or whether he should be expressing them publicly at all in any forum.
I have to admit there are times when I see an article or blog post, which makes me want to fire off something critical or snarky. And there have been times when I have typed in 140 characters. But just before hitting post, my inner editor always comes to the rescue by posing the question: “Is this tweet really necessary? Is there an upside to doing it, or will it just cause unnecessary aggravation”.
It’s something Goddard should have seriously considered before he hit the “publish” buton.