Believe it or not, just this week I noticed four digits of Twitter followers on my Twitter handle, @Mike_McGinley. Now, to be clear, I've been tweeting since 2009 and truly, rarely ever take note of my number of followers, believing that the number fluctuates so much it's more of a hassle than anything.
But, this week, something really stuck out: the four-digit number itself. To me, that's significant enough to merit a blog post and significant enough for me to say that I take it seriously. I know, for many of you, me saying such and expounding upon that statement further to say I feel it brings a bit of "responsibility" sounds silly, but I'm being honest. In today's society, with so much "out there" on the web all the time, in various views and expressed in various ways, it's important moreso now than ever, that those tweeting and posting on platforms with big audiences are responsible - socially, ethically, journalistically, and on.
While I left the journalism biz more than two years ago, you'll notice I post a lot about world and local news, but you'll also notice I always credit the source. See, since I was trained to give attribution and to deal in facts when making matter-of-fact statements, I try to abide by that notion. I hope it's something my followers respect, and I think it's something we should all strive to do.
May none of us ever make a flap on our timeline without correcting it immediately. May we never express hateful views that discredit us as positive tweeters. And may we never consider Twitter a joke when posting things that can go viral and affect lives.
And, of course, may we make an impact on all those who read our 140.
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