Inexperienced Social Media Users

It seems with each passing day, more and more people are becoming active with various forms of social media. From Facebook and Twitter, to YouTube and blogs, people all over the world are seeing the possibilities offered by social media and are adopting it for themselves. However, new users need to be aware of the pitfalls that exist within the social media realm. One such person is Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall.

Mendenhall, who has been in the NFL for 3 years and is 23 years old, posted a couple of controversial tweets on Twitter in wake of the death of Osama Bin Laden at the hands of U.S. special forces. He first tweeted, "What kind of person celebrates death? It's amazing how people can HATE a man they have never even heard speak. We've only heard one side...". Then Mendenhall went on to say, "We'll never know what really happened. I just have a hard time believing a plane could take down a skyscraper demolition style".

Now to denounce hatred is understandable, as well as to be against murder. For some, killing someone is an unjustifiable act for which there is no reasonable scenario where it can occur. But for him to question people for hating someone whom they have never heard speak is an ignorant statement to make. First, people have heard Osama Bin Laden speak. Does Mr. Mendenhall forget about the numerous videos and statements that Bin Laden and al-Qaeda released attacking the United States of America and accepting responsibility for the September 11 attacks?

And as far as his questioning of whether or not the planes that struck the World Trade Center actually brought down the towers, I personally am at a loss for words. Yes I've heard the conspiracy theories surrounding 9/11 but there's much more evidence to suggest that it was the terrorist hijacked planes that caused them to collapse, and not a radical inside job.

Mendenhall needs to rethink his approach to how he uses social media, specifically Twitter. The instantaneous nature of Twitter can lead some users who neglect to think their thoughts through completely to say something they would regret. Once someone posts something to the internet, it becomes potentially exposed to millions of people and opens up he or she posting the controversial statement to a firestorm of attacks.


 So the next time Rashard Mendenhall thinks about tweeting something, he might want to think about it a little more than he normally would, otherwise he might end up like former Pittsburgh Steeler Plaxico Burress and shoot himself in the foot.