Balancing Policy and Personal Beliefs in the Digital Age

in Hive Learnersyesterday (edited)
As individuals we all have our rights but there’s always and extent to which we can exercise such rights. They say we have freedom of speech but some speeches would obviously land you in trouble. That’s just the reality. They tell us all these things to make us think that we have freedom when in actual fact we are just caged to these rights.

Social media today is a place where a lot of things go down. There’s a lot out there on the internet today and how you use the internet depends on who you are and what you’re looking for. While some are making millions of dollars from the social media space, others are getting in debt, getting arrested and even having court cases. It’s the same social media, but we all have different views of it.

I’ve heard so many people say that social media is a free place but today, I’m here to break your bubble and tell you it’s not. Anything you do or say on social media can be used against you in one way or the other of it doesn’t sit well with someone or a group of people. I mean, you can’t just get up and go on social media insulting or harassing others. Some may ignore you but one day, you’d most definitely meet that one person who’s going to take you on.

Recently, schools, work places and even embassies have started screening the social media of applicants. If you follow the news you’d probably know that the US embassies across the globe are actually screening visa applicants social media for anything that goes against the US. That’s why I tell you there’s always rules. Today, we just assume that what you put on your social media pages is who you are. Whether it’s hate comments or what have you. It’s your page, you posted it, no one forced you to and so don’t be surprised if you’re judged by that.

Speaking of jobs and school settings, they also have their rules. In a way, you represent the company you work with or the school you attend currently not just when you’re at the work place or school campus. Even when you leave the premises of the school or work, you still represent that institution and so anything you do or say out there would most like be attributed to your work place or your school. And no institution would want to be affiliated with someone who speaks like a terrorist or a paedophile on social media.

Sometimes, you might think that it’s even a big deal because everyone is saying this is someone’s comment section so you’d be no different but you’d be the one getting into trouble for a hate comment on social media at your work or school. Yeah, I know you’d say you have your right to do this and that, but I’m sorry to tell you, until you quit that job or that school , you don’t just get to do anything you want. Because you’re now tied to them and they are tied to you. I actually am not against institutions dismissing some people due to their social media posts and all because everyone’s reputation is on the line here and we can’t just let one person take something people have build over decades and just throw it out the window in a second.

At the end of the day, no one died from using social media the right way and you’d be no different if you do too!


all images belong to me.


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These days, what you post online can come back to bite you. Whether it’s your job, school, or visa, they’re all watching. Freedom doesn’t mean you can say anything anyhow.

That’s very true.

It’s true, freedom of speech has its limits, especially on social media. We need to remember that everything we post can affect our image and even the reputation of the places we work or study, so using social media responsibly is essential

I agree with you.
Thanks for passing by.