Reflection on Social Media Case 9: Ponderize

               This case is very difficult to understand for me personally because there a lot of factors that go into it. This is about an LDS General Authority, Elder Durrant, who spoke in general conference on “ponderizing”, which is pondering the scriptures and memorizing a verse from the scriptures. I thought that the whole “ponderize” term is very clever, and apparently Elder Durrant’s son thought that it was clever too, so much that he created a website where you could buy merchandise that had “ponderize” on it, as well as a Facebook page on the subject.

After this website and Facebook page were created, there was a lot of backlash from people who were suspicious and saw the whole thing as a way for them to make money for personal gain. After this happened, his son made a post that said that all profits would go to a missionary fund. This only caused people to be more suspicious, questioning why that wasn’t said in the first place. The fact that the statement was only made after the backlash also makes me question if all profits really were intended to go to the missionary fund. You can read more about the whole scandal HERE as well as what was done by Elder Durrant to address the issue.

This whole social media case is just another example of how fast something can spread on social media and how fast there can be negative reactions if you aren’t careful. Things like this happen all the time on social media and this article from CNN presents many different incidents of it happening with celebrities. Overall, this can be a lesson for everyone to always think of what can happen in result of whatever you post on social media for everyone to see. The fact that everyone can see it, and not everyone will think of it as a positive thing, should always be in the back of your mind.

Reflection on Social Media Case 8: Pastor's 10% to God

 

This social media case is about a pastor who ate at Applebee’s with a group of friends and when it came time to pay the bill, the computer automatically added an 18% gratuity tip because it’s Applebee’s policy. Pastor Bell apparently didn’t agree with this because on the receipt she wrote “I give God 10%. Why do you get 18.” I also found it interesting that she crossed out the automatic 18% and wrote 0 in the blank space for a tip. One of the serves saw the receipt and posted a picture of it on Reddit. Supposedly this server got fired, but what I want to focus on within this case is whose reputation was damaged more.

I personally think that the pastor’s reputation was damaged more, but that the server and Applebee’s got more negative repercussions. Posting confidential information can be super damaging to your companies reputation, and can result in the employee that posted it getting fired, like it did in this situation. You can read more about how companies can get their reputation damaged HERE. I don’t think that this particular situation was damaging to Applebee’s reputation, but I do think that it may have been damaging to the employees reputation. However, I think that the pastor’s reputation was ruined the most.

What this pastor wrote on the receipt is distasteful, but what I think is most damaging to the pastor’s reputation is the fact that she didn’t even want to leave a tip. This is just wrong and a tip should always be left for the server. If the pastor didn’t want the whole world seeing what she did then she probably should have thought of that before she did it. Here is a link to a letter from a restaurant worker on why you should always tip at least 15%.

Reflection on Social Media Case 7: Anthony Weiner's Post

           The Anthony Weiner case is a perfect example of how someone’s reputation can be ruined through social media, especially when they deny the truth. Anthony Weiner was a U.S. Congressman who was accused of sexting. He initially denied the accusation, but because it was on social media, news stories dug deeper into the case and he eventually admitted that the accusations were true. His reputation was ruined, which is obvious when you do a Google search on his name. Most all of the top search results are about the whole scandal and there is even a whole Wikipedia page devoted to his sexting scandals. I can’t help but wonder if the negative effects on him would have been lessened if he would have admitted to the whole thing in the beginning, rather than lying about it.

               There are definitely many things that can be learned from Anthony Weiner, such as admitting to something that you did, especially if it is being talked about on social media. This is especially important if you are a political figure being as you are constantly being watched by the public. Anthony Weiner brought “degradation upon himself” according to The New York Times. I believe that part of this self-inflicted degradation was the fact that he didn’t admit to everything that he had done until it was too late, and of course, the fact that he sexted multiple women, including an under-age girl is the main cause of this degradation. Although I do wonder if the effects would have been lessened if he admitted his faults earlier, I don’t believe that he would have gotten away with the sexting. He would have had to face criticism and many other things, but I don’t think it would have been as bad as it was. Lying and hiding things will only make matters worse, no matter who you are.