People have always had a fascination with the personal lives of celebrities. With social media, fans get an even greater insight into the lives of their favorite musician or athlete. Sites such as Twitter also give these people a chance to connect with fans in a way they haven’t been able to in the past.
However, the downside to posting something on social media is that once it is out there, there is really no way for the post to be taken back. Sure it can be deleted, but in many cases with celebrities, it is more likely that someone has already taken a screenshot of the tweet, meaning the person who posted it no longer has control over how or where it is shared. This can cause problems for celebrities when people bring up old tweets that end up offending some of their current fans.
It could be argued that, because of their career as a professional athlete or actor, celebrities should expect for their every move to face scrutiny. While this is true in some respect, it does not seem fair to judge a person, celebrity or not, purely on a tweet they posted years ago. To get a true sense of someone’s character, other past actions, as well as current ones, should be taken into account.
It is alright if people want to call attention to these old tweets as a way to educate both the person posting, as well as their audience, but it is important to do so without completely disregarding everything else that person has done. Of course, this does not apply to those who continue to post offensive tweets that clearly shows their behavior has not changed.
People should be allowed to learn from their past mistakes because more likely than not, that tweet from however many years ago no longer reflects their opinions or character. I imagine most people are thankful there is no one scouring their social media accounts looking for some old post that is either embarrassing or reflects negatively on their character.
While it can be valuable to bring attention to these tweets because they give people a chance to become more socially conscious, it is important to remember that celebrities are just like everyone else.
They have made mistakes like sending out a stupid tweet years ago, but that should not be used as a greater indication of their character than their current actions and achievements.
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