In the Age of Social Media, Be Careful What You Say

My husband has always said, don’t write it down, record it, or film it. And in the age of social media, it is even more essential to be careful what you say.

I wrote previously about my husband’s rules of life. This piece of advice ranks as a close second.

Don’t write it down, record it, or film it. It WILL come back to haunt you. ~Eric P. Lashley

I believe the inspiration for this sage advice was the breakup between a friend and his girlfriend. My husband told his friend he never liked the girl.

As adults, we all know what happened next. But as a young adult, my husband was still naive.

Yep. The couple got back together.

And like the line in When Harry Met Sally, the words were out there in the air and my husband’s friendship was doomed.

Be Careful What You Say

When my husband first realized he should keep his mouth shut, there was no such thing as social media.

Heck, there was barely a thing called the internet, and it didn’t come with a browser. We were all still using something called DOS.

But today in the age of social media, it has never been more important to be careful what you say.

Words aren’t out there in the air floating around like they are tied to balloons.

There are in people’s inboxes, screenshots, Wayback Machine internet archive, and in the permanent files of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and yes, even Snapchat.

Once it is on the interwebs, it never goes away.

So do yourself a favor. Be careful what you say.

And when it doubt, keep your fingers off the keyboard and your mouth shut.

Read all 50 pieces of advice I shared in honor of my 50th birthday.