No accountability in social media bashing

You can call me old fashioned; you can call me behind the times—but one thing you can’t to call me is a fan of social media, even though I have Facebook and Twitter accounts.
    I have often gone on record saying social media is going to be the ruination of our society and country. You don’t have to look any further than President Trump and his use of Twitter to make that conclusion as well.
    But what really chaps me is the lack of accountability, and in some cases the anonymity, of social media and its users.
    It’s far too easy to trash someone online without ever having to face the person you’re trashing. That’s the lack of accountability I’m talking about. (Does cyber bullying come to mind?)
    Just this week, one of our papers felt the brunt of one of those posts because the SPVA brackets weren’t in last week’s paper. One simple question would have addressed the situation—the brackets weren’t even released before the paper went to press. End of story!
    Instead, our paper was cast in a negative light for something we didn’t even have control of.  
    My father-in-law and mentor Loral Johnson gave me some wise advice. When you’re all fired up, sit down and write a letter with all the emotion and fury you feel at the time. Then, put it in the drawer for a day. If you still feel the same the next day, then mail it. Often, those words written in haste and/or anger fall far short of being appropriate for the situation.
    Social media users can benefit from that same advice. People need to give a lot more thought to what they post online BEFORE posting it.