‘Delete’ button can be your friend

Take a minute to think.
Over the weekend, Draymond Green found himself apologizing for sending out an explicit photo on Snapchat. New Miss Teen USA Karlie Hay came under fire for racist tweets she sent a couple of years ago.
Last week, it was the North Carolina Republican Party, which questioned on Twitter why Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine was wearing a pin displaying the Honduran flag. In fact, it was a Blue Star Service pin worn in support of his son, who is serving in the U.S. Marine Corps. (All it took was a quick Google search to learn that fact.)
Green, Hay and the North Carolina GOP add their names to an ever-growing list that includes Ayesha Curry (Steph Curry’s wife), Anthony Weiner and Charlie Sheen.
We’ve all been there, maybe not on Twitter or Snapchat, but we’ve been there.
We’ve said, written or posted something on social media that we wish we hadn’t. It probably wasn’t something explicit, like Green’s, or racist, like Hay’s, but it was still something we wish we could take back. Maybe it was just a typo that made us look silly.
That’s why it’s important to take the minute to think, to re-read what you’ve typed, to consider the consequences.
We can sometimes get away with opening our big mouths and saying something offensive if there’s no audio or video recording device around. Even with Facebook, it’s possible to delete a post before anyone sees it if we think quickly enough.
But when something goes out on Twitter or Snapchat, it’s out there. You can try to delete it, but ask anyone on the long list of celebrities who have found themselves in hot water about how well that works.
It doesn’t.
Somewhere someone has taken a screen shot that will preserve your words or picture for all eternity.
So before you hit that little blue “Tweet” button or send a snap, take a step back. Read what you’ve written. Look at the picture you’ve included. Even let it sit in your “drafts” for a few minutes if you have to and mull over the consequences.
And, if need be, let the “delete” button be you friend before the tweet or snap is sent rather than after.
Nothing you post on social media is worth losing a friend, being fired from a job or destroying a reputation.
Consider it the new “think before you speak.” It’s just as important to think before you tweet. — R.C.