Sometimes people treat online interaction like it’s a disposable commodity—fleeting, insubstantial and barely registering as real interaction. And yet, the things we say and do online are actually more visible to more people—and more permanent—than our in-person conversations and actions. What we share online is magnified, and it’s out there indefinitely.
The online me will live longer than the physical me.
We’re building a lifelong record that many people (not just who we’re talking to) are watching. People who come generations behind us could have an opportunity to see the entire catalog of our online interaction. Every caring inquiry. Every flippant reply. Every encouraging thought. Every complaint. Every word.
Increasingly, online presence is being examined as a sort of character reference. Universities might take a look during the admissions process. Prospective employers will evaluate your online behavior as a predictor of your offline behavior. And court cases have even used social media posts to show who a person really is by pointing to the things they’ve done and said online.
Lately I’ve been processing this and asking myself some tough questions. With the tools and technology we have access to, there’s a growing public record of who @BobbyGwald is. So who is he?
Is the online me a follower of Christ? Keep reading
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