It’s the first thing young parents tell their offspring: “It’s nice to share.” Well, maybe that’s the second thing. First would be: “Stop picking at that thing or it will never get better.”
I never listened – and, sure enough, it never did get better.
My siblings and I were admonished to share. “Share your toys. Share your food. Share your clothes.” My brother Mike and I were good about that last one. We swapped underpants every two days, thus getting a week out of each pair. Even the family dog recoiled.
But I would submit that much sharing – especially in this digital age – should be somewhat curtailed, if not outright done away with.
Yes, I know that Facebook, Twitter and You Tube are widely credited with bringing about democracy – and job losses to ruthless thugs like Mubarak and Qaddafi.
You may have read about the three former young aides to Rep. Rick Larsen who, a couple of months ago, shot themselves in all six of their feet.
The Neo-Three Stooges used Twitter to let people know that they loved drinking Jack Daniel’s, watching videos and ducking their “idiot boss” while on the job – noting that it was especially cool doing it on the public tab. As was noted earlier, they are now three former aides.
It used to be that practically the only way someone could really do something dumb was to leave the house and venture out into public. Now, with recklessly used social media, you can go outside the house – without even leaving it – and look as stupid as a stump in front of everyone, pronto.
As a professorial social scientist might put it: “We are all just one impulsive sharing Tweet away from Anthony-Weinerizing our reputations.”
But the worst of the “sharing” might not be the kind that ruins careers. No, it’s the “sharing” that nobody wants; nobody needs:
“Just saw a guy at Starbucks spill coffee on himself. LOL!”
“There’s a fly in my room. Wish I had a swatter.”
“I’m changing my baby’s diaper right now. OMG! Less cheese for him!”
Less sharing is more. None is better.
Or to put it another way: Share fully, carefully.
Pat Cashman can be reached at
pat@patcashman.com.
