Social media has changed the Internet in many ways, and some would even say that it has made the Internet into what it was meant to be all along. People can now connect with each other in seconds. They can also contact businesses and organizations. They can investigate things that interest them and learn about things that they never considered before. However, there is one other aspect to social media that must be examined: its destructive power.
Those who are in the public eye also have to be careful. There are many examples of athletes saying things that they later regretted, after it was too late. The New York Knicks’ Amare Stoudemire used a gay slur when addressing a fan earlier this year, and the fan took a screenshot and showed it to the world. This was very harmful to Amare’s public image. The NBA also fined him $50,000.
In the end, social media is not inherently destructive. If it is used correctly, it can be very good. However, people need to make sure that they know what they are doing when they use the Internet in this way. They need to be careful. All of your online actions are visible to the public, so make sure that you never say or do anything on a social media site that you would not want the whole world to see.