Spring Cleaning In The Age Of Social Media

Spring Cleaning In The Age Of Social Media

- Laura Tierney

If you don’t think what you share and like on social media — or whom you follow — reflects your character, think again. Tennys Sandgren, the first American to reach the quarterfinals in the Australian Open since 2010, learned this lesson the hard way a few weeks ago — in the spotlight of the American press.

After being accused of homophobia, racism and supporting controversial ideas on Twitter, Sandgren deleted every tweet he had posted and started fresh. In an ESPN interview he said, “It’s not something I’m really necessarily embarrassed about or anything like that. It just seemed like creating a version of a cleaner start is not a bad call.”

Our social media accounts absolutely reflect who we are, what we value and how we think. During a press conference, Sandgren tried to explain that it was ludicrous to judge him based on articles he had shared, views he had tweeted and even accounts he had followed. But, of course, we judge, and our judgment isn’t limited to pro athletes.