Social Media Users with a Super Hero Complex
Facebook is a great thing, but when used incorrectly, you take the risk of revealing the fool you are behind the screen. Now, we all want to be superheroes at some point in our lives. We want to protect our community from the forces of evil, and serve justice on a silver platter. However, some people just never grow out of that stage. Here are a few big DON’TS when creating a group page for your community.
1. Groups are a great idea for small suburban communities! Just DON’T be a creeper!
There is a “private” group on Facebook that a nearby neighborhood community of adults started towards the end of 2011. These “PEEPS” (People’s Eyes Everywhere Protecting Stuff), started out as a kind of online neighborhood watch. Quickly, though, it seemed that watching the neighborhood turned into acting for the neighborhood.
The following are some of the posts on this group’s page [no changes have been made to these posts, spelling, grammar, etc.]:
Ford Explorer parked right across from VPK building. Two people inside. Appear to be smoking something. Truck is not on. Very strange for this time of night. 1am.
2. DON’T be so nosy! Don’t you remember how you were as a teen?
It’s easy to feel important when you’ve been accepted into a private community Facebook group. It’s also easy to let that “power” go to your head. Don’t start “reporting” for the sake of writing on Facebook. I have to admit, this next post made me laugh; I can’t help but feel like there’s a desperate housewife with too much time on her hands behind this beauty.
Sad that teens/kids are not showing respect for themselves or others. They don’t seem to care about injuring (maybe killing) and destroying other people and their property. In the past month we have had 2 fires in Fh, today there was a fight with about 40 on lookers, there are cars speeding through stop signs, lights and through children friendly neighborhoods, people killing fish for the fun or it etc.
My problem with this post is the automatic assumption that it is teens doing something wrong. It was later found out that people ‘killing fish for fun’ were, in fact, adults. Not teens. As a person who has been driving for seven years now, I can also say that it is not just teens that speed through stop signs. More often than not I’m cut off by soccer moms with their kids in the back seat watching Spongebob Squarepants on the built-in DVD players.
3. Relax, Superwoman, that bird was not close enough to harm you. However, you might want to stay away from telling other parents how to raise their kids.
Just read:
This teenage boy just passed me on Osprey Glen on a double yellow line. Proceeded to drive 60plus and carelessly. When I caught up to him at a light, he have me the finger…if this is ur kid take the keys away!!!!! [posted with picture of car’s license plate]
A majority of commenters encouraged the woman to continue looking for the teenager and press charges at him for giving her the finger. Pressing charges because a teenager flipping the bird? If that was a real offense, ½ of teens would be behind bars.
I can’t say this is only happens in social media, but come on. Someone needs to bring that person down from their pedestal. People often forget how public social media is. People also tend to forget that even though things posted online can be easily deleted, it’s also just as east to take screen shots. It’s so easy to post on a social network that people often either forget or just don’t think of how they sound. Do people still even filter what they write? According to PEEPS, I guess not.
We all love social media and why shouldn’t we? It’s an excellent way to keep in touch with friends and business contacts and for businesses it’s an ideal way to market yourselves and products to your target audience. While the “PEEPS” group is an extreme case, it is important to remember when operating our own pages or our businesses social media page to maintain a professional demeanor and not cross the boundary between ‘well meaning’ and ‘ridiculous’. If you cross that line, friends and fans won’t take you seriously.
