I’ve been watching the story of Paris Brown, Britain’s first Youth Police Commissioner unfold over the last couple of days. I wouldn’t have noticed except my ears perked at the mention of her Twitter account that brought on the backlash.
For those of you not familiar with the story, Kent’s Police Commissioner thought that it would be useful to have a youth representative. Paris, who is 17, was recruited from the 100 or so applicants and paid £15,000 per year.
I’m not too sure why they thought this was a good idea.
Apparently, the Kent Police need the voice of our youth. I’m sure they could have got it with far less palaver if they hired someone to spend an hour a day on Twitter and Tumblr.
Paris lasted a week in the role and resigned earlier today as our press and politicians suddenly thought they were still living in the 1980’s and hounded the poor girl out, for being a teenager no less.
The problem?
Her offensive tweets spanning back to when she was 14.
Who else is shocked that a 14 year old tweets about being drunk, drugs and sex? It’s only the same as what they talk about constantly on their phones or hanging out.
Despite a public apology, it would appear that Paris still had to go. If we applied the same principle to everyone in public office, no-one would have a job!
We all say things we regret
I’m not condoning what Paris wrote, some tweets were quite offensive taken on their own and out of context. It’s very difficult to put 140 characters or less in context, months and years after they were unleashed on the world anyway.
Kent Police admitted that they didn’t vet her social media accounts – as if that was a huge oversight…
I’m just glad the joys of social media didn’t exist when I was going through my teens. I’m sure I would have shocked the world with my status updates if anyone cared to dig them out. I bet there’s still some animal rights graffiti around Liverpool somewhere for anyone that wants to go look.
This whole mess and public humiliation of a young woman highlights a few things for me.
The clowns currently running the country need to get a grip. Instead of calling for the resignation of a 17 year old who was totally unprepared for the backlash of public office, they need to step back and look at what’s really happening.
Social media is changing the way we live. It really is a social revolution that we are simply not prepared for. Our kids have grown up online with very little guidance about online ethics or netiquette. We don’t teach this stuff in school, and we’re learning ourselves as we go along.
It’s the wild west…
What can we take away from this drama?
I’m not saying don’t have opinions or speak your mind. Please do – the world would be a very boring place if we were all the same.
Everything we do online has the potential to go very public. A tweet, a Facebook status, even our blog posts are all out there for the world to see. Not just for a few seconds as it flies through a news feed, but years down the line too.
Comments that back in the real world said between friends face-to-face would be forgotten – a laugh and joke at the time, suddenly have the potential to come back to haunt us because we expressed them online.
Online conversations, whether on Twitter or other networks have become the norm. Conversations that I wouldn’t dream of having online are quite normal for my daughter (who is 20).
As business owners trying to use this wonderful tool to promote ourselves, we do leave the door wide open for people to pry. Perhaps not on the scale where the national press get involved like a pack of rabid dogs, but the invitation for some fool to dig up perceived dirt is there.
Paris learnt the hard way, I feel for her.
The next lesson?
If you apply for a public office, make sure you delete your Twitter account because some small minded people will go looking for something that can be deemed offensive…
Over to you…
Should we be hounding people over comments made on social networks in the past? Do you self-censor your updates? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
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I was very sorry to hear about this situation and felt much the same as you did about it. Some of what she said was unpleasant but, as you say, young people are growing up with the internet and obviously aren’t thinking through the possible ramifications every time they tweet or update. Almost all my social media posts are related to my writing and, if I find myself commenting in an emotional way, I usually delete and re-phrase or just leave it. I am careful about personal details and especially anything referring to my family. I know that sometimes people disagree with what I write but there won’t be anything politically incorrect or worse. Thank you for a thought provoking post.
Hi Harriet, I’m still a bit stunned the whole situation spiralled like it did and I do really feel for the girl.
Like you, if I find myself rising emotionally, I’ll walk away and respond later. Thanks for popping in and sharing your thoughts.
Hi Jan
Yes, it’s a great shame these people have nothing better to do.
I was once turned down for a job because the prospective employer did an online search on me and found I’d promoted some health supplements via – shock horror – a network marketing company.
I’m obviously too entrepreneurial to have fitted in there LOL
Joy
Hi Joy, don’t get me started about employers digging on the net! That’s a whole can of worms to open… If a few promotions worried them, the job obviously wasn’t the right fit for you. Thanks for popping in 🙂
Wow what is that saying.. For every action there is a reaction. This is so true in social media for every social share or post there can be a huge reaction.
But she apologized, and didn’t justify her actions. It was almost a witch hunt. We all have posted something via social media that we have regrets over. To me that is a good example of humility and a lot of young people need an example of humility. I don’t know what her tweets consisted of, but what she did at 14 should not be held over her head.
It was a witch hunt, Eleanor. I think the girl took a lot of flak simply because certain newspapers and politicians didn’t agree that a Youth Commissioner was needed. Thanks for popping in and leaving your thoughts.
I guess I’ll never get this letting it all hang out there mentality. Even as a kid, I understood there were certain things you just didn’t share in public circles (which applies to just about every online forum these days). I was horrified with the typos made on my high school year book ‘quote’ (I didn’t make them, the transcription staff did), but there wasn’t much I could do about that at the time (we didn’t have online proofs to review – or cut and paste content we provided in this era). So, I certainly get the mortification that comes from what seems like poor judgement – and may not be your doing.
I’m not in the UK, so haven’t been following this story. It sounds sad (I’ve generally avoided politics because I don’t want people digging into my personal life), but this ‘dumb kid behavior’ excuse is being played out a lot lately. How about, instead, encouraging the media to highlight kids that can muster some common sense in how they present themselves? They’re out there.
Hi Nanette – I don’t get the let it all hang out mentality either, it amazes me what people share on social media.
I’ve been online since before Bri was born and she grew up online. She had her own email from aged 4 and has been on forums and then social networks from an early age with me hovering in the background. I remember the discussions we had about what is suitable to share and what is not. And the Internet bans when she stepped over the line…
But we aren’t the average family, I saw Bri’s peers fumbling around with no guidance because parents didn’t (and still don’t) get it. I do think Paris is a product of her generation. Twitter and BBM messages and the like are an extension of conversations between friends rather than messages for public consumption.
Paris obviously has something about her to apply for and get such a role. They wanted the voice of todays youth, and sometimes it isn’t pretty or politically correct. I do think she took the hit because a role was created that many in the media didn’t agree with.
Thanks for popping in and sharing your thoughts 🙂
In many ways we live in a fish bowl. Everyone sees everything. I always told my daughter that what you say online stays online.
That’s true, Toni. It’s a fishbowl and anyone who chooses to look can see what we do.
I think it’s utter nonsense that they had to go to this extreme. Let him or her without some fault of their own cast the first stone. I’m sure there isn’t a single person in the precinct, the press, or the government that doesn’t have a thing they’re ashamed of.
They were just better at covering it up.
‘Despite a public apology, it would appear that Paris still had to go. If we applied the same principle to everyone in public office, no-one would have a job!’ – Indeed! Just another demonstration of hypocrisy that is rampant along the powers that be. I feel for her and hope that the experience does not change her too much. So many times people let these experiences harden and change them in a negative way.