Thursday, December 11, 2014

Dear Teens: "FART" is still a bad word, and other words that could wreck your digital footprint

I've got a list...Part of me just wants to start typing the words that offend me but I think that kind of defeats the point of this blog. There are words that have become commonplace in the teen vernacular that are not accepted as acceptable in older generations. Here is the kicker- it's these older generations that are going to hire you one day.

So teens, when you call your friend the "n-word" or the "b-word", chances are you are offending someone. That someone might be considering hiring you one day. Someone that has stalked your Facebook, twitter, instagram, tumbler, vine or whatever is the latest, greatest social media pull to see if they think you are worthy of their organization. It happens, believe me.

And you know when you retweet something that is from an offensive name...even though you weren't the original tweeter, because it shows up on your feed, my generation is offended by it. Does that seem unfair? It probably does to your generation, but there is truth in this blog post and I feel you need to know it.

Now lets talk about your passive aggressive behavior of subtweeting. You know who you are (see what I did there?). My generation sees that it is subtweeting and you are showing a bit of a character flaw with this move. Oh, I've done it. So I'm sharing from knowledge here.

Last but not least, acronyms. While LOL seems sweet and happy, you know you use some that can be offensive. Some are downright naughty.  And guess what...the adults know what they are, just because you've used an acronym doesn't mean you haven't stated your true feelings. Yes, we will judge you for that too. Social media isn't the place to air out dirty laundry. For your future self's sake, think twice and post once.

Oh, and my least favorite acronym of all is OMG. It's become so commonplace that people rarely even think about what it really means. That's God's name in there and you are taking it in vain (see Exodus 20:7).

You are probably rolling your eyes right now. You probably think I'm being an overreacting old lady. You might be right to some extent but I am not the only one. I share these things so that maybe you'll consider before posting in the future.  Your future you might thank you one day.

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