A little over a month ago Justine Sacco, a public relations director at InterActiveCorp (IAC), boarded a plane to South Africa. Just before takeoff she chose to send what she believed to be a harmless tweet. “Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just Kidding. I’m white!” By the time she got off the plane thirteen hours later, she had lost her job and created an uproar about her offensive comments which will now follow her wherever she goes. Sacco’s tweet clearly made unsavory remarks about a disease epidemic that has been an ongoing fight in many communities. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions; you don’t have to be commenting on AIDS to offend someone on social media. However, Justine Sacco, a Tulane graduate, can teach us all a lesson about watching what we post on the Internet.
Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have become norms in everyone’s lives. Although there has been great pressure from parents, professors, and advisors to watch what you post, it still seems as though what we write will be untouchable. Justine Sacco thought this as well. Prior to her brief Internet fame, Sacco had only about 200 followers, which to some people (like myself) seems like a lot, but it definitely doesn’t seem like enough to make you lose your job and gain short-lived infamy. One of her followers emailed the tweet to an editor of Valleywag, who told Buzzfeed, and before she knew it the tweet went viral with the wrong people. Only one person needed to see her words for her to lose her job and have repercussions that will follow her for the rest of her career. She is proof that a mistake, which she believed to be a humorous quip isn’t funny to everyone. Though her comments are seemingly overt, there are things people write everyday that could offend or anger potential future employees or coworkers.
Regardless of privacy settings, people can get a hold of the information that post on accounts. Even if your post doesn’t eventually make it to Buzzfeed, the next time you apply for a job and the employer looks through your tweets, you may not be hired just for the simple reason that you have the potential to cause unnecessary controversy. Tweets are not the only area for concern. This past Monday, a fraternity at Arizona State University became news after posts of the “black”-out party in honor of MLK Day surfaced.
The world is still figuring out how social media can affect our lives. We have just begun to analyze its effects on political races and policy matters. Now, posts can have an affect on everyday lives, not just those of former New York politicians and ex-Disney Channel stars -I’m looking at you Dylan Sprouse! Justine Sacco was an everyday person who- like many of us will- have a Tulane degree and a low-level job in a multinational corporation. Because one wrong person saw her tweet, her life has now dramatically changed. While it may be annoying to constantly hear it from our parents as if we are applying to college all over again, what they are saying actually has weight- watch what you post!