It was the end of summer, beginning of fall. The school year has just started. I remember walking back home from my after school club. I was 11 at the time. I remember I was smiling, I do not remember why. My head was in the clouds, daydreaming, and my eyes were scanning the pavement in-front of me. Not really paying attention to my surroundings. I was enjoying the moment, and then BOOM. I walked into a street light post. I was so caught up with myself that I didn’t even notice it was there.
You can imagine the embarrassment I felt at that moment. I remember it till this very day. I also remember scanning the area to make sure no one noticed. Luckily not many people were around, beside one kid I knew from the neighborhood. He wouldn’t say anything, but even if he would, no big deal. As I realized that, my cheeks slowly returned to their original color. The embarrassing moment had passed, I’m in the clear.
My kids are at the same age today as I was when I walked into that post. As I type these words, I’m aware of how funny it sounds but my cheeks still blush. Which leads me to question, what if it were to happen today — in the days of social media — YouTube, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram… ? Most likely that kid would have record and shared it on-line, and I would be forever reliving it. Every google search will list it, just after my articles and my accomplishments, there it would be, my America’s funniest home videos moment, and the worst part is that I would have had no control over it. It would have been there forever and I could not take it down. Luckily I was born at the previous generation, before it could have happened.
Read more: https://thriveglobal.com/stories/when-do-we-need-to-start-managing-our-online-reputation/