Six years ago, basketball star Kobe Bryant was arrested for sexual assault involved a young woman in a Colorado hotel room. The charges were dropped after his accuser, Katelyn Faber, declined to testify at a trial. To make amends to his wife, Bryant bought her a $4-million ring. While there was certainly a lot of media attention, the situation lacked one key element: social media.
Without blogs, Twitter, Facebook and Flickr pounding away, the Bryant camp was, for the most part, able to manage the situation – as much as one can manage anything involving a high-profile, millionaire athlete who had a “transgression” with someone other than his wife.
For Tiger Woods, however, social media (and his global celebrity) has been like a digital tsunami, slamming into his life again and again. While the traditional media coverage of Woods’ “transgressions” has been overwhelming, the social media hordes have been fueling the flames and the conversation with opinions and discussions, as well as breaking news.
With social media on the scene, it’s impossible to escape intense scrutiny when you do something wrong. And the spotlight remains on the scene of the crime for a long time as blogs, et al continue to feed on the victim’s misfortune.
Another fascinating angle to social media and how much we know about what people are doing is the amount of information that’s self-disclosed – what we’re doing, eating, thinking, buying, etc. Perhaps the most troubling are tools that broadcast your location (e.g. I’m at the Starbucks on 4th St. in New York).
It strikes me as very Orwellian (aka 1984-ish) and suggests yet another chapter of our private lives that we’re willing to sacrifice. As well, it’s a great way to broadcast to anyone interested in robbing your house, there are windows of opportunity on the public record.
Are you concerned about how much information you disclosed online? If not, why not?
5 Comments
Hey Mark – great topic. The issue of private vs. public, or professional profiles vs. private profiles has been swimming around in my head a lot lately. The eternal optimist in me wants to believe that we are all becoming more open and social with each other and this is actually a positive shift in society overall. Of course, this is not for everyone, but I see an opportunity for people to connect with other as never before and share themselves with the world if they so choose.
Now, the darker side of all of this where people screw up and cannot escape the spotlight afterward – I suppose that's just 'the cost of doing business' now. This has been a long time coming though – traditional media, news outlets, tabloids, etc. have steadily pursued this 'let's cover every single moment and analyze it ad nauseum' mentality for decades. The difference now is that the people being 'covered' actually have just as much power to present their side of the story (i.e. via social media). The playing field is much more level now IMO. In cases like Tiger's, I think it's pretty straightforward – watch your zipper and you won't have any problems.
But seriously, we should all be responsible for our actions and avoid doing things that we're not proud of and would have a hard time standing behind if exposed publicly.
I also believe this is spilling over into the business side as well in terms of personal profiles vs. professional profiles. Although right now, there is this sense of 'watch what you do' and 'don't mix personal with professional' in social media, I believe this too will become much more balanced in the years ahead. I think one of the greatest things about being involved in social media is that you can really connect with people on a personal level by being open about your interests, passions, etc. Why should we put up walls around ourselves just as we're counseling businesses to tear those same walls down? Don't we encourage businesses to be more transparent, and engage in the conversations happening throughout the web? Don't we encourage them to put a face on their profiles and not just a logo? If businesses are becoming more open, I think it stands to reason that the people that they employ, partner with, etc. should also feel comfortable being more open as well. This is perhaps a bit 'blue sky' for right now, but I believe it's what we will see more of (not less) in the future.
Thanks for the inspiring post Mark! It really is a fascinating topic to explore.
You have a point Mark. However, I think there are some elements missing as far as straight-out comparisons go…
To start, Kobe didn't smash into public property…and Kobe didn't have them coming out of the woodwork like Tiger has….DAILY!!
I actually also think that it is because he was such a straight-laced dude, or so we all thought…boring even! I mean Kobe seemed like a cooler guy, style-wise, you know??
Meanwhile, Tiger is doing things behind the scenes that would make Dave Navarro blush.
Oh and he is a GOLFER!!! The gentleman's sport!! Basketball has long been known for it's thugs and ladies' men…but GOLF?? I can't see the Golden Bear gettin' down…nor do I want to.
What is truly a sad part of all of this is that is was expected of him (in many circles, I'm sure). Not because he was boring or exciting, but because he is a minority breaking a barrier…like the same pressure that might be on the current U.S. President??
Lastly he is hiding, which is adding to the hype – I don't blame for hiding. Charles Barkley may question his manhood for not coming clean, but I think he is just waiting for the scars and bruises to heal…and maybe a good dentist. Smart move!
Anyway, at least we all know why his game was slipping now!
Nice clean site – good luck!
Add me if you can?! http://www.twitter.com/BankruptcyVegas
D.
I'd propose that one of the key drivers behind the overwhelming success of facebook vs twitter is the ability to keep our conversations semi-private (though it seems that facebook has a clear case of twitter envy as continually strive to make the privacy settings harder to maintain…).
Me – I try to be careful to never post anything on twitter, et al, that I don't want a potential business partner or client to find. Perhaps this is why I'm so much more active on facebook!
Nonetheless, the point may be moot. As a society we are being conditioned to share – filters are for old people. I suspect this trend is not likely to change. We'll just have to learn to live in this new context. At least until the Internet ceases to exist.
I'll just have to spend some extra time educating my kids as to the more slippery problems of public broadcast.
Absolutely concerned. Personally, I have a certain brand and certain ideals that I stand for…so it actually becomes more stressful trying to ensure its upkeep. However, having spent many months stressing about it, I feel like I've arrived at a balance…and its a lot easier to maintain these things now. But yes, I think consistency is key especially for people like me who are in the early stages of their careers.
However, here's my solution to making life a lot easier – Find a way to incorporate your social life into your personal brand and you won't have to worry that much anymore. Thoughts?
I'm not as concerned with information I choose to disclose online b/c I have a certain level of control over what I share…what concerns me more is the personal information that is collected without my knowledge and what is done with that information.
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