Editorial: The Tweet Factor

Tweeting 140 characters can be quick, easy and fun. It allows anyone to broadcast their thoughts to the world, or at least their amount of followers. Brevity is what makes it attractive. The goal is to be clever, funny and ironic. But what if the wrong people see your snide remarks? We’re not talking about colleges, parents or employers. We’re talking about the people who look up to you the most — the underclassmen.

TotalSMEastMove has over 1,000 followers, making it the most popular and the most followed of any East affiliated twitter account. With all these followers this account can be used for good — sharing game themes or promoting events. But what has made it so widely followed are the “witty” drinking references and hurtful comments. Comments and references that are hopefully meant to be seen as a joke but may be taken the wrong way by naive underclassmen; for example, TotalSMEastMove’s tweet, “When does drinking on a weeknight become acceptable,” might be misunderstood as a socially acceptable or even cool activity upperclassmen participate in.

Freshmen and sophomores see these tweets everyday. Tweets about how our school has more money than other Shawnee Mission Schools or how we’re cool because we drink on the weekends and wear Sperrys. Material positions and underage drinking shouldn’t be considered cool; what’s cool is when we come together on social media to show support for each other during tough times and exciting victories.

More serious than just underclassmen watching is the administration. They are well aware of our school’s reputation. Since many students don’t put their accounts on private or monitor their followers, school officials as well as anyone else can view the content. They can see those pictures with a beer from spring break and they probably know what you were doing last Friday night.

Upperclassmen need to start thinking about their activity on social media. Would you like your little sister or brother reading about how you were so “hammered” on Saturday night that you did something stupid? What could seem funny to your peers now might not be in 20 years.
Think about how you’re hurting the reputation of our school. A school that was just ranked 942 on the Washington Post’s Most Challenging High Schools in the country shouldn’t be known for it’s particular affinity with Minor in Possession charges or material possessions. We should be known for the support we give our various sports teams and clubs that work harder than anyone could ever “party” on the weekend. A reputation we can regain through social media.

Now juniors and seniors aren’t the only ones at fault here. Freshman and sophomores need to realize that although you might think you have Shawnee Mission Wonderful all figured out, you don’t. You have a great two or three years ahead of you at a school that has more to it than being preppy and proud.

But this isn’t a chastisement of how we have to support each other in every aspect of the school. Uniqueness and individuality are two of the best qualities of social media. Don’t take that away, upperclassmen, just make sure those witty 140 character comments won’t, 20 years from now, make you wish you’d gone to — dare we say it? South.