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How do we fight cancel culture?
Cancel culture is particularly interesting to me. Maybe it’s because I write for a living. Maybe it’s because I hate bullies and mob mentality. Maybe it’s because I’m clinging to the hope that one day the things I say will matter to somebody. Whatever the reason, this tweet stopped my thumb in its tracks during my habitual morning scroll:
Never write an email you wouldn’t want public. Never text & assume it won’t be screenshotted. Never speak at a conference & assume somebody isn’t recording you. Never Clubhouse & assume it’s private. Comms 101. I had this talk with my teenagers recently about social media usage.
What should disturb us most about this tweet is the fact that it’s possible to look at our world in a way which makes this good advice. Whether we like to or not, the line between private and public has been blurring for decades, and given that social media is well on its way to making that distinction obsolete, a certain amount of awareness about what you say seems wise. After all, if everything you put in a digital format is now public (and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to argue that it isn’t) then choosing your words carefully online is more or less the same as being tactful during a private conversation, right?
