Have you ever posted anything regrettable on a social media site? At worse, it probably costed you a lot of humiliation, Or maybe even a stern lecture. For Justine Sacco, it cost her a lot more.
On a flight to South Africa, Justine Sacco, a public relations agent, tweeted, “Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS! Just kidding. I’m white.” By the time her plane touched down, she was an instant celebrity, for all the wrong reasons. The national firestorm was swift and harsh. Her employer fired her and she was forced to apologize in front of the nation.
There is a lot to be said here. First, we should all be careful what we put on social media. It will haunt us for life. And unfortunately, we will be judged on that. I hate it as much as everyone else, but that’s just where the world is right now. The second thing, something that is supposed to be funny or innocent to get blown way out of proportion. For example, if Sacco said this some 25 or 30 years ago, would it have been a big deal. The media got on Steve Martin?for tweeting about pronouncing something in an Italian or African-American restaurant. This could have been an innocent question, but the media and political correct police pumped it up to be even more. He was eventually forced to apologize. I’m not condoning what Sacco said. But has social media become a tool for political correctness enforcement?