Skeleton Ground Zero
Almost exactly 13 years ago, Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams floated a quirky little experiment they called Twitter.
Ever since, there’s been a love/hate relationship with it… easily one of the top three social media platforms in the world.
First touted as a “microblogging” service of 140 character messages only, it’s never made investors a lot of money, and like Facebook, has suffered endless challenges from all sides. Critics complain of its lack of a meaningful, cohesive formula for answering concerns over the balance between privacy and free speech.
Why It Matters
But everybody from President Trump down to revolutionaries in the Middle East love Twitter for the reach it gives them in the form of a mostly unfettered soapbox.
The problem is…your Twitter trail never really goes away. Just ask Kevin Hart. He lost a bid to be the MC for 2019’s Academy Awards because someone dug deep into his past Twitter record to find some supposed homophobic tweets. The #MeToo movement has found fodder in Twitter histories, as have Charlottesville protestors, and Roseanne Barr-haters.
I would prefer a prospective voiceover client with great social media forensic skills NOT find some awkward surprises in my Twitter history Click To Tweet
Here’s the point: we have ALL done foolish things in the past, and many of us have tweeted stupid posts in the last 13 years when we were young and impetuous (or drunk). There may never be a reason for someone to try to embarrass you, but why leave that possibility dangling (or skeletons rattling in the closet)?
Believe it or not, Facebook and Twitter never automatically delete your data. It’s all there, as far back as your first post (mine was in 2007). Wanna check on it? The answer from Twitter:
- Click your profile icon in the top right navigation bar.
- Select Settings and privacy from the drop-down menu.
- From the menu on the left, click Your Twitter data.
- Enter your password and click Confirm.
Not worried about it? OK, but check anyway. If nothing else it will either confirm that you have a perfect memory, or that you really WERE drunk and don’t remember. 🙂
Regardless, it makes for fun reading, and may even take you down memory lane for a bit.
My bottom line? I would prefer a prospective voiceover client with great social media forensic skills NOT find some awkward, long-forgotten surprises in my Twitter history.
CourVO