Life's full of little ironies. On the same day former British PM Tony Blair was telling David Letterman about how he got his very first mobile phone AFTER he left office, President Obama was telling school kids to watch what they post on Facebook.
Blair, only 44 when first elected Prime Minister, told Letterman about how his first attempt to send a text - not realizing his name was not attached to the message - resulted in a reply of "who are you?" Humbling words for the man who. 24 hours prior, was the second most powerful politician on the planet.
That, by the way, was only two years ago.
Fast forward to now, only hours before Blair's Letterman debut, when the current most powerful politician in the world was dispensing sage tech advice to school children across the country via a video and Internet link.
Responding to a question about how to succeed in business or politics, the first words from President Obama's mouth were not eat a good breakfast, wear clean undies or even finish school. His recommendation: be careful what you post online - words, pics or video.
Good advice, since what you write at 15 will still be around somewhere at 25, 50 and for your obit writers to mine for pithy quotes like "LOL. Wasted. Again." Your future employers will be looking, too, according to recent stats, and they are notorious for having even less of a sense of humor than your parents. Hard to believe, but true.
President Obama's words on the topic of social media probably won't join the ranks great presidential quotes. Hopefully he did, though, save a few future leaders from explaining how the YouTube video of them jumping naked into a frozen lake in January seemed like a good idea at the time.
Not that I have any personal knowledge of such activities. Really.
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Very good advice, but I wonder how many are going to listen to it. I remember being taught to watch what I said and did because people would remember, but not really believing it until someone made a comment years after an event. Now, they not only remember, they have proof of it.
ReplyDeleteMakes me wonder how future employers will view the way my son spells on his Facebook posts!