Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Watch the Gossip!

Loose talk has a way of getting picked up and spread around.
Little birds drop the crumbs of your gossip far and wide.
Ecclesiastes 10:20 (The Message)

Lately I've become increasingly amazed at how fast news travels; especially the news that's supposed to stay "just between us." Today we live in a world where gossip can travel at lightning speed. The archaic little bird or fly on the wall scenarios of carrying gossip have been replaced with modern technology. With one click of a send, update status or tweet button, world's can be turned topsy-turvy. (Hmmm . . . I wonder if this where the creators of Twitter got their little blue bird mascot.)

Once you've heard or read a tidbit of juicy gossip about someone else, have you ever double-backed to verify the facts and check the credibility of the source? Or, do you, like most of us, form your everlasting opinion of the parties involved and move on? No matter whether the gossip is mostly true, kinda true, 100% false, or a 50/50 split down the middle, once its out there, its out there! At the end of the day, someone's life is changed forever within a moment's notice and on a scale grander than we could have ever imagined even just years ago.

In the speaking group I travel with, Young, Fit and Fly, we teach young ladies in a session called 'Fit for Business' about the dangers of causing detriment to themselves by posting unfavorable pictures and messages on the world wide web. Today, I want to take it one step further. I'd venture to say that we should watch what we say not just about ourselves in these forums, but about others. No matter how harmless we may think it will be or how upset someone else has made us, we truly live in a time where we must watch this type of careless gossip because when people's lives are at stake, "I'm sorry." cannot and will not always cut it!

Seek Wisdom, Find Wealth & Watch the Gossip!

2 comments:

Mike M. said...

Definitely true! Especially when it comes to uploading compromising pictures. Once its on the web, it lives forever! Even if you delete it, someone else may have already downloaded it and can re-post it at will. Just might cost you that new job 2 years down the road.

Patrice Cunningham Washington said...

Thanks for the feedback! Truly appreciated!