Tweeted a stupid update? Time for a name change
Kids today post so much embarrassing personal content online that one day they’re going to have to change their names to escape the mess. That’s what Google’s Eric Schmidt believes, anyway.
The Wall Street Journal doesn’t quote Schmidt directly, but reports that: “He predicts, apparently seriously, that every young person one day will be entitled automatically to change his or her name on reaching adulthood in order to disown youthful hijinks stored on their friends’ social media sites.”
Let’s assume he is indeed serious. Most Facebookers and Twitterers have posted impetuous comments only to later delete them in embarrassment, or lived to regret their friends tagging them in a goofy, drunken photo, so it’s no wonder years down the line it may seem time to hit reset.
This isn’t a new phenomenon, hating the stupidity of our younger selves — don’t believe me? I dare you to share a photo of yourself as a teenager, then — but Schmidt is right that our childish ideas, foolish dress sense and drunken silliness have never been so publicly documented.
But will the teens of today go so far as to reboot their lives in mass embarrassment when faced with applying for their first jobs?
No. Instead, what I think will happen — or hope will happen, at least — is that the world will grow up and realise you can’t judge people by a status update posted years ago, that we shouldn’t all live in fear of things we’ve said just because our outbursts and silliness are now archived and searchable.
I can’t put it any better than this swear-filled comic from XKCD (really, let me warn about the naughty words in very large font), which argues we shouldn’t temper our lives to fit a mold, or hold back for fear of shaking things up.
And you know what? We’re already pretty good at forgiving mistakes. The US has elected presidents knowing they’ve smoked joints or battled cocaine addictions. We forgive stupid drunken behaviour and celebrate missteps as at least showing some character.
Decades from now, someone’s who’s had a Twitter account since their teens will stand for PM, and we’ll surely see that feed picked apart. Tabloid headlines will scream the unsuitability of someone who once got drunk and silly, felt it necessary to review the weird new sandwich they had for lunch, or dared to share an unpopular opinion.
Hopefully the rest of us will have the good sense to ignore all that and remember we’ve all done it too, whether or not it’s a matter of public record.
published by pccpro
Uploaded by Niall Mulrine, Pc Clean, Navenny, Ballybofey, Co. Donegal, Ireland
www.pcclean.ie 086-2377033
The Wall Street Journal doesn’t quote Schmidt directly, but reports that: “He predicts, apparently seriously, that every young person one day will be entitled automatically to change his or her name on reaching adulthood in order to disown youthful hijinks stored on their friends’ social media sites.”
Let’s assume he is indeed serious. Most Facebookers and Twitterers have posted impetuous comments only to later delete them in embarrassment, or lived to regret their friends tagging them in a goofy, drunken photo, so it’s no wonder years down the line it may seem time to hit reset.
This isn’t a new phenomenon, hating the stupidity of our younger selves — don’t believe me? I dare you to share a photo of yourself as a teenager, then — but Schmidt is right that our childish ideas, foolish dress sense and drunken silliness have never been so publicly documented.
But will the teens of today go so far as to reboot their lives in mass embarrassment when faced with applying for their first jobs?
No. Instead, what I think will happen — or hope will happen, at least — is that the world will grow up and realise you can’t judge people by a status update posted years ago, that we shouldn’t all live in fear of things we’ve said just because our outbursts and silliness are now archived and searchable.
I can’t put it any better than this swear-filled comic from XKCD (really, let me warn about the naughty words in very large font), which argues we shouldn’t temper our lives to fit a mold, or hold back for fear of shaking things up.
And you know what? We’re already pretty good at forgiving mistakes. The US has elected presidents knowing they’ve smoked joints or battled cocaine addictions. We forgive stupid drunken behaviour and celebrate missteps as at least showing some character.
Decades from now, someone’s who’s had a Twitter account since their teens will stand for PM, and we’ll surely see that feed picked apart. Tabloid headlines will scream the unsuitability of someone who once got drunk and silly, felt it necessary to review the weird new sandwich they had for lunch, or dared to share an unpopular opinion.
Hopefully the rest of us will have the good sense to ignore all that and remember we’ve all done it too, whether or not it’s a matter of public record.
published by pccpro
Uploaded by Niall Mulrine, Pc Clean, Navenny, Ballybofey, Co. Donegal, Ireland
www.pcclean.ie 086-2377033
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