On page 4 there is a story about the Mount Isa Mayor Joyce McCulloch raising concerns about the negative way in which some people use social media.
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It is a point of view I have some sympathy for although on the whole I believe social media is a force for good.
Cr McCulloch’s issues were twofold, firstly about people posting potential defamatory remarks about council employees and secondly about community feedback about her own use of social media.
In the first issue there is simply no excuse to tear people’s reputations apart online without justification.
People need to realise that posting on social media is publishing and therefore is subject to the same laws of defamation that currently relate to publishing in newspapers and news websites.
In other words, if you attack someone’s reputation in a public forum (such as Facebook) without proof, you may be breaking the law and subject to court penalty.
It is easy to take to social media to vent whatever is on your mind, but people need to understand they cannot go spreading false rumours in a post.
Remember that the onus of proof of truth is on the publisher ie the person who writes the post in social media.
Already some individuals have been taken to court and instances are only likely to increase with well over half the population on social media.
The second part of the Mayor’s concern was over reaction to the fact she is not a regular user of social media.
Cr McCulloch is far from alone, many people don’t use social media nor should they be forced to use it, or be judged on it.
Indeed there are legitimate privacy issues that means many otherwise tech-savvy people deliberately avoid social media.
Yet the reality is it is becoming an important part of our day-to-day lives. It is a crucial communications tool for the North West Star, as it is for Mount Isa City Council.
We need to remember that’s all it is, a tool.
And it is how people use that tool that is at stake.
Facebook is barely 10 years old so not yet a teenager. As the product matures, I believe our use of it will also mature and we will see all its capabilities. DB