Communication Junkie Lessons

     I personally tend to listen to comedy or horror podcasts on regular basis. If I am feeling smart and educated, sometimes I listen to a random Harvard Business Review IdeaCasts episode just to feel like I fit in with my wife. That changed when I started taking this class. I saw that we had to complete a podcast as an assignment, so I started compiling a list of podcasts on communication. Luckily enough, when this assignment came up, I had a repertoire of podcasts built up that dealt with this very topic. I chose to do this assignment on Communication Junkie's podcast, and specifically the one titled, "Surviving Social Media" where the host, Steven Fuller, talks about the time he posted a tweet that caused some difficulties with his job. In a short rundown, though I suggest listening to the podcast since it is only 10 minutes or so long, the host explains how he sent a tweet out in as a joke. (Fuller, 2019) How the public perceived the tweet and the fallout of the tweet is the subject of the podcast. Interestingly enough, his experience is similar to the one experienced by Justine Sacco in the TedTalk "How one tweet can ruin your life" conducted by Jon Ronson. Steven did not become the number one trending topic on twitter nor did he receive thousands of death threats or be treated in absolute horrid way; he did go through some animosity for his tweet. When you look back at the perception that one has when interpreting a method of communication, role plays such an important part. (Communicating Online, 84) Steven's role as a professor for his university gave him power. While Steven himself has stated that he meant the tweet as a joke, he failed to account for his role. I feel like it the power aspect of role that many believe are the issues when it comes to certain tweets and their offensiveness.

    The more and more I delve into the world of social media, I realize just how important our roles play into how the masses perceive our intentions or how they react to our posts. While I completely agree that people in positions of power should be held to a higher level of accountability, it is important to decide what level of accountability do we hold someone. Does someone deserve to lose a job over a joke told 25 years ago to a group of friends? In those years, doesn't someone grow and mature? I think it is important to keep those facts in mind when someone start trending for nefarious reasons. 

    This picture is one of Chris Wetherell, the man who led the team that built the retweet button. I've included a link to an article about Chris and his thoughts on his development of the Retweet button. It is an interesting take on someone who helped build the device that is now helping thousands of people regret the choices they made. 

    While I have certain feelings of how people why and which people are cancelled, I think the most important aspect to remember is our roles. Again, it is always important to think of how an individual will interpret something you say. It is even more important to think that before putting something on the internet, where no one can hear the sarcasm in your voice, or the wink in your eye at the end of the sentence so they know the joke was meant for them.

Cited Sources

Fuller, S. (Host). (2019, September 8). Surviving Social Media. (16) Communication Junkie. TuneIn. http://tun.in/tjgeB3

(2021). Communicating Online. McGraw-Hill Create. https://bokshelf.vigtalsource.com/books/9781307755855