There is a saying I learned when I was building sets that has come in handy for many other things other than carpentry - "Measure twice and cut once". It is especially true when posting on public political forums, Facebook, and Twitter. It is just better to understand what you are reading and writing, and think before posting a comment. Here is my cautionary tale...
After Rand Paul announced he was throwing his hat in the ring on Tuesday, a group of avatars were posted on his campaign page that can be downloaded to be used to show support across social media. The little avatars exclaimed "Musician for Rand", "African-American for Rand", "Nevadan for Rand" etc. In their haste to counter, Planned Parenthood posted all of these little avatars as a meme on Twitter with the following comment - "Hmmm, what's missing? "Women for Rand" Guess even Rand Paul knows that women won't support Rand Paul"
So to cover their mistake, they tried to back-track a little with this:
That "clarification" didn't help much because it was pointed quickly by the rabble over and over that there is no "Men for Rand" avatar either. To their credit, Planned Parenthood didn't delete the tweet, but no one from Planned Parenthood tried to defend it either most likely hoping that people would lose interest.
Now, there is more to this tale than just pointing out how brainless Planned Parenthood has been which is fun (I admit it). But we all know we post comments without thinking sometimes. I admit I do. But the real moral of this story is..."Think twice, post once". The internet is forever.
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After Rand Paul announced he was throwing his hat in the ring on Tuesday, a group of avatars were posted on his campaign page that can be downloaded to be used to show support across social media. The little avatars exclaimed "Musician for Rand", "African-American for Rand", "Nevadan for Rand" etc. In their haste to counter, Planned Parenthood posted all of these little avatars as a meme on Twitter with the following comment - "Hmmm, what's missing? "Women for Rand" Guess even Rand Paul knows that women won't support Rand Paul"
Sen. Rand Paul's "Show Your Support" page doesn't have anything for women.Immediately, the responses started pouring in. Not at all what they were expecting though. All were along the same lines of "What? Women can't be...". Whoopsie, in their haste to pounce on the "War On Women" theme, no one noticed that none of these avatars were the least bit gender-specific - Doctors, Lawyers, African-Americans, Musicians, Veterans, Student, Runners and the various states etc. Now "Sportsman" and "Fisherman" could be debatably masculine, but seriously even woman play sports, hunt, and fish.
So to cover their mistake, they tried to back-track a little with this:
Women are many things—doctors, veterans, more—but w/ his record, seems even Paul knows "Woman for Rand" won't be one.
That "clarification" didn't help much because it was pointed quickly by the rabble over and over that there is no "Men for Rand" avatar either. To their credit, Planned Parenthood didn't delete the tweet, but no one from Planned Parenthood tried to defend it either most likely hoping that people would lose interest.
Now, there is more to this tale than just pointing out how brainless Planned Parenthood has been which is fun (I admit it). But we all know we post comments without thinking sometimes. I admit I do. But the real moral of this story is..."Think twice, post once". The internet is forever.
Comments?