https://thespun.com/news/espns-paul-pierce-under-fire-for-inappropriate-instagram-video
For some reason, when we think of people making poor decisions and then uploading video evidence on social media, we think of teens just wanting attention. We see it time and again where a young person will post a crazy or obnoxious video of themselves in order to get more likes or followers. They want to fit in, to become “Insta famous”, or maybe their brains just aren’t developed enough to understand the consequences that can result from such actions.
The brains of adults, however, are fully developed. So what would cause a well-known, former professional athlete and current ESPN analyst, Paul Pierce, to post a 13 minute video of himself playing poker, smoking, and drinking while being surrounded by exotic dancers? I honestly have no clue.
During the lengthy Instagram Live stream, he lashes out on his social media haters while appearing to be quite at ease in his “less-than-wholesome environment.” Let’s not forget that Pierce was working for ESPN which has become part of Disney. Obviously, those in executive positions for the Disney Corporation were none too happy to see the video. The former NBA Champion has since been fired from ESPN.
But to me, the real questions are: Why? What would cause someone to behave in such a manner and then post it for the world to see? Why jeopardize your job? We could make a number of guesses as to why Pierce did what he did, but in all honesty….it doesn’t matter. I have a feeling he will be just fine.
What we should take from this experience is that our kids aren’t the only ones making poor judgements with their social media content. We tend to focus on them and their mistakes, but there are plenty of adults in the online world who are giving them plenty of poor examples to follow.
I remember the saying, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” That may be true. If so, we’d better do all we can to teach our young people how to manage their digital footprints better than some of these older users like Paul Pierce. If we start early enough, maybe we can help them avoid making some of the same mistakes we see people making today. It’s definitely worth a shot.
