What I found interesting in the Podcast was how Bryan Alexander highlighted the idea of digital literacy competencies. Just as in my field of nursing, people can have read material and practiced a skill but that doesn’t make them competent in practice. In comparison, just because someone is able to use digital skills doesn’t make them competent in their level of digital literacy and understanding.

In my professional career, I have witnessed negative fallouts not through social media (ex. facebook, twitter) but via e-mail in my work setting. E-mails were sent out with hidden agenda’s and with no sensitivity or respect for the person(s) it was intended for. No only did this effect organization cohesiveness, but the targeted person left their position because of it, which was a huge loss.

The web is a very powerful tool! A place where we go to connect, learn and grow personally and professionally. As with every engineered tool, it’s at the mercy of its operator, or user. Unfortunately, we see it all too common in the media, where someone posts, tweets or shares some content on a social media platform that is not received well from its viewers; as evidenced in Justine’s story. What happens next, is that then we witness the public shaming of that person or organization as a result. What people have to be so careful of, is that any form of communication to others through social networks is open to interpretation and criticism; therefore, sensitive deliverance and respectfully disagreeing is key to avoid becoming a participant or a victim of the “Internet Rage Machine”.