Thomas Friedman in today's NYT, writing about Dov Seidman's new book called How: '...in this transparent world “how” you live your life and “how” you conduct your business matters more than ever, because so many people can now see into what you do and tell so many other people about it on their own without any editor. To win now, he argues, you have to turn these new conditions to your advantage.
For young people, writes Seidman, this means understanding that your reputation in life is going to get set in stone so much earlier. More and more of what you say or do or write will end up as a digital fingerprint that never gets erased. Our generation got to screw up and none of those screw-ups appeared on our first job résumés, which we got to write. For this generation, much of what they say, do or write will be preserved online forever. Before employers even read their résumés, they’ll Google them.
“The persistence of memory in electronic form makes second chances harder to come by,” writes Seidman. “In the information age, life has no chapters or closets; you can leave nothing behind, and you have nowhere to hide your skeletons. Your past is your present.” So the only way to get ahead in life will be by getting your “hows” right...
“We do not live in glass houses (houses have walls); we live on glass microscope slides ... visible and exposed to all,” he writes. So whether you’re selling cars or newspapers (or just buying one at the newsstand), get your hows right — how you build trust, how you collaborate, how you lead and how you say you’re sorry. More people than ever will know about it when you do — or don’t.'
This makes me think back to the Amanda Marcotte / John Edwards situation. All these blog posts written for easy laughs, and filled with bile, are going to come back one day to haunt the posters. It seems that some are trying to bury the old embarrassments with volume, but google ensures they will continue to bubble up to the top.
I wonder if we will ever be successful in ignoring the most insulting voices? Human nature seem to draw attention to the rant over the well considered response. Optimistically I think a change in our political culture will go a long way to restoring a civil discourse, but even so, you can't unring a bell. Damage has been done... the question is, how long will it take to heal.