To share or not to share

Peter Bunting, General Secretary of the People's National Party, unknowingly at the time, stepped into a fire when he shared comments on his facebook profile quoting Albert Einstein’s “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results" and Martin Luther King’s  “A genuine leader doesn't reflect consensus, he molds consensus.”

Some of his Facebook friends and the media interpreted these comments as an attack on Party Leader Hon. Portia Simpson-Miller. Now his seeming contretemps is being used to trash his work performance and to highlight party official’s dissatisfaction with him. The Jamaica Observer is reporting that he will likely be removed from his position.

But the real story here is how the Internet, social networks and Facebook in particular, are changing the media landscape and people’s lifestyle. When you share something on Facebook it can get viral quickly. Once you’re connected with several persons…your friends… friends of your friends…friends of your friends’ friends... and so on, are able to access some of your information. So one must be carefull when considering what to share. See crossing the line on social networks.

Though Bunting might not have thought that he overstepped his boundary sharing his recent quotes, the rising popularity of Facebook in Jamaica (see graph) turned his posting into headline news. In his ‘For Clarification’ note, Bunting says the quotes were not intended to attack Mrs. Simpson-Miller. But the Facebook platform allows for opinion sharing and views that ripped his comments to shreds. Some of these responses were ‘disrespectful and offensive’ says Bunting. 

Still, he welcomes comments to his posts and believe that “different ideas and opinions should contend” which, of course, is an unwritten facebook rule. He also shares in the Facebook spirit by making good use of his profile. Bunting’s profile description is almost completely filled, he liberally uses Facebook applications such as photos, top friends and notes and has more than 2,000 friends. Many of these friends commented on his recent quotes and clarification.

Click to see how Bunting's friends responded.

The whole purpose of Facebook is to share, as we all know. But Bunting’s experience clearly shows that politics and cultural norms must be considered.