THE reports “Tweet with caution” (The Star, May 15) and “Twitter users warned” (The Star, May 13) highlighted that there is a heavy price to pay if social network users are not careful when posting conversations or in exchanging their views.
As mentioned in the articles, in both Malaysia and Britain, there have been instances where users were brought to court and were penalised into paying damages (in fact, quite heavily) and also sentenced to jail for their tweets which were found to be defamatory and harassing in nature.
Honestly, the social networks, namely Facebook and Twitter, being the most popular, are definitely excellent and wonderful interaction and communication tools.
These sites, together with many others in the market, have helped enhance and ease communication, interaction and information – bringing individuals, families, friends, groups, communities and also business societies closer.
At large, many in the world have benefited, both socially and commercially, from it.
Yet, these online social networks have their dark side. Just like many other great inventions, the dark side doesn’t stem from the devices itself but its users.
If you were to visit some online public pages or sites today, you are bound to come across, rather easily, written comments or postings that are actually discomforting to read.
They come in forms of allegations, slander, vulgarities, disrespectfulness, name calling, classifying individuals as species of animals and even afflicting others’ parents.
Whether the commentators are ignorant, doing it in knowingly or unknowingly, these interchanges are definitely not only unnecessary but also morally not right.
Because of this, I sieve and filter information or comments received very carefully and thoroughly. Here I can only advise others to do the same.
When leaving comments or postings, be sure to be vigilant and doubly sure about the contents you are putting so as not to land yourself in unnecessary trouble.
Although some might assume immunity, taking advantage by being anonymous, the Attorney General of Britain Dominic Grieve warned that “it is a big mistake”.
Another unhealthy Internet phenomenon is ‘online bullying’. I have personally witnessed this.
This was a case where a few commentators actually jumped upon a lady who was just giving her beliefs and opinions.
She was actually very tactful all the way. However, these “online bullies”, ganged up and started harassing the lady with disrespectful remarks and tried to bulldoze her to agree with their opinions.
I think the basic rule here is about respect. Everyone is entitled to their views and opinions.
It is definitely all right if others do not agree with us or vice versa and we must remember these are no platforms to determine who is right or wrong.
Away from the ethics, we have been lamenting that we are deteriorating in our command of languages – both Bahasa Malaysia and English.
I have always opined that we should use proper language and complete sentences wherever and whenever possible – even when communicating on social networks.
It works both ways – for those who write and for those who read. If we use abbreviations and improper sentences, we are only promoting the language’s deterioration, especially amongst the younger generation who are the regular users of social networks.
Therefore, we must encourage them to practise proper language disposition and we, as elders or seniors, should lead by example.
As the famous poet and playwright William Shakespeare put it: “Conversation should be pleasant without scurrility, witty without affectation, free without indecency, learned without conceitedness, novel without falsehood.”
It may have been 400 years since he write that and the methods of communication have changed, but I believe the values and morals of human beings should never change.
Let us utilise the Internet rightly, responsibly and ethically — starting with ourselves.
K.T.T kayeLL
Comments