You'd think 140 characters would limit the stupid.
By Rachel James (Treasurer/Writer)
First off, I must thank all you readers for your wonderful responses to my post last week. I've been getting some great follow-up questions and hearing lots of success stories from the stand by line and borough distributions!
Happy success dance, everybody!
It made me feel very lucky to live in the viral age of communication. I had friends I hadn't spoken to in ages write to tell me they had read my post and took my advice and were seeing the show tonight. The internet really is a great tool in making the global community feel a little more connected. And then people have to be mean.
Before social media, there was this.
A few weeks ago, I wrote about a writer/director friend of mine being harrassed on Twitter by an actor he did not cast. After the initial frenzy of the first day, things seemed to die down. People went back to the usual Facebook fodder of upcoming nuptials and what they had for lunch.
Yesterday, Ryan wrote about the actor who tweeted her opinion about the first preview of Into The Woods (#horrified). And in related "think before you tweet" news, a Greek Olympian was kicked off the team following a racist rant on Twitter. She also issued an apology, but it was too late and she was asked not to go to London with the rest of the Greek team.
By the way, are publicists non-existent now? Just sayin'...
Let's get this out of the way: everyone is entitled to their opinion. That's not the issue here. It's not so much the sentiments behind these tweets as the fact that the tweets happened. Good or bad, the world does not need to know your feelings at all times. Nor does it need to know what you had for lunch, or how you're getting drinks later. Social networking was built so we could better keep in touch with loved ones and meet new people in the glorious land of the interwebs.
We are abusing the privilege.
People, put the Twitter down! Take a moment and think before you type words that can go to hundreds of people, who can then retweet it to hundreds of people, who can then send it to a news outlet and make it a story. I've said it before, but clearly it bears repeating: The internet is not your journal.
This is your journal
Just like last time, I'm sure these stories will blow over. Everyone makes mistakes and most of us have overshared on social media at one point or another. Let's just think of it as a brand new day and move on.
Oh, and this:
RACHEL JAMES is a native New Yorker and theatre baby. Her plays have been produced by The 52nd Street Project and Starfish Theatreworks. She currently makes a living working the various box offices of Off-Broadway.
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