We all say things we wish we hadn't, both face to face, and online. Southwest Airlines did a whole ad campaign on the subject, suggesting you jump on a SWA plane to get away from the gaffe. Fortunately, the recall of most humans is such that we can get passed most verbal gaffes in a short period of time. But what of gaffes made on Teh Internets?
Take the case of Mr. Dave Gebhardt. Mr. Gebhardt is a talented artist and illustrator. I own several of his Squadron/Signal books (my fave is the F4 Phantom title).
Alas, Mr. Gebhardt is also a wingnut who doesn't like some of my political leanings/sentiments, and he informed me of just that on Twitter yesterday:
Yeah, I know, @CajunDave isn't the first "Top Conservative On Twitter" who is offensive, but I was very surprised to find someone with so prominent a public persona being this offensive in the public stream. I pointed this out as part of the Twitter conversation that followed, and Mr. Gebhardt took steps to hide his personal opinions. Since this response to me, @CajunDave has taken his Twitter account private:
If you're going to post things on-line that your clients (and potential clients) might shy away from, taking those remarks out of the public eye is a good start. Still, it's so very difficult to un-ring the bell. Many people use client programs to do instant messaging and Twitter. Even if you delete the offending content, it lives on, stored in those clients, as well as e-mail. Deleted blog content can be resurrected via Google Cache and the Wayback Machine.
In the specific case of Twitter, what happens in public tends to stay in public. @CajunDave has locked down his stream, but a search of conversations between me and him brings his words right back into view:
We can't see any of Mr. Gebhardt's original thoughts, but if he replies to someone, those tweets go public, and can be accessed. There's no privacy as soon as you mention another Twitter user in the message.
Savvy internet users have dealt with this issue for years. It's why you see a lot of anonymous users on both sides of the political blogosphere. The person behind the nickname often has a separate website, possibly even one for their business as well. How to avoid having to run around, trying to un-ring the bell?
- Blog/Tweet under a pseudonym. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but, let's face it, does Dairy Queen want to be associated with someone who makes on-line Nazi comments? Pick an alias that doesn't point a big, red arrow right back at your real name.
- Separate the political and the professional. Once you set up your alias, stick to it. Before he "went private," @CajunDave had a link to his portfolio and resume on his Twitter profile page. That's a recipe for disaster, because he created a direct link between his comments and his employers. The best way to stick to this separation is to update online content on both sides of the wall. If you're prolific politically, be prolific professionally.
- Remember the boundaries of civilized discourse. Unless you're trying to establish a persona like the Rude Pundit, or you want a career like that mommy-blogger lady who ended up becoming a full-time blogger because her drama forced her out of her job, you really do have to know where the lines are. A bit of swearing, mocking public figures, these things, particularly when done under a pseudonym, aren't going to raise many eyebrows. Learn the corporate culture of your employer (or clients if you're self-employed) and stick within those boundaries, or make sure your pseudonym is a very deep cover.
Blogging and micro-blogging are all about free expression. That said, it's important to remember that none of us are really 100% free. When the fingers on the keyboard move faster than the brain, it's difficult to take it all back.
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- Edward Branley's blog
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