BURLINGTON, Vt. — Social media makes it easier than ever to share anything and everything at a moment’s notice. Politicians are under the microscope. In the last week, several were caught with social media blunders. A tweet Republican Michael McGarghan sent in April resurfaced last week. Burlington school board member David Kirk is under fire after sharing several racially charged posts on Facebook. “There was a lot of anti-refugee sentiment that felt really concerning,” parent Kristin Fontaine said. Fontaine started a petition calling for him to resign. It has more than 500 signatures and counting. In a statement, Kirk told NBC5 in part, “These posts were inexcusable, and they have been removed.” “Try not to be so much in the moment that you’re not considering the implications of what you do,” said Elaine Young, a digital and social media marketing professor at Champlain College. “When someone takes a screenshot of something you’ve done, when this content lives on because it’s shared or retweeted, it becomes permanent and always findable,” Young said.
BURLINGTON, Vt. —
Social media makes it easier than ever to share anything and everything at a moment’s notice.
Politicians are under the microscope. In the last week, several were caught with social media blunders.
A tweet Republican Michael McGarghan sent in April resurfaced last week. The tweet called for President Barack Obama to be hanged. McGarghan is running for a seat in the Vermont House of Representatives.
Republican officials are now calling for him to step down.
Burlington school board member David Kirk is under fire after sharing several racially charged posts on Facebook.
“There was a lot of anti-refugee sentiment that felt really concerning,” parent Kristin Fontaine said.
Fontaine started a petition calling for him to resign. It has more than 500 signatures and counting.
“We’re sharing with the school board and Commissioner Kirk himself that it’s just unacceptable,” Fontaine said.
Superintendent Yaw Obeng echoed those sentiments.
In a statement, Kirk told NBC5 in part, “These posts were inexcusable, and they have been removed.”
“Try not to be so much in the moment that you’re not considering the implications of what you do,” said Elaine Young, a digital and social media marketing professor at Champlain College.
Young said recent events serve at a reminder to everyone to have a clean social media presence.
“When someone takes a screenshot of something you’ve done, when this content lives on because it’s shared or retweeted, it becomes permanent and always findable,” Young said.
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