Should people be judged on old social media posts?

Kermit.de.frog

So erm, there is so many more but this fella who is the head of the Ulster Unionist Party up north is going to have an interesting day!

Should people be held to account for tweets 10 years a go? Is it fair? Don't people change in that time?

Not everyone but i'd say a lot of people change.

Whatever about someone posting something stupid in their teens but Beattie was in his mid-40s when he tweeted the above.

People can change.

This guy however is 57 this year, his tweets are 10ish years old. Not sure people change so much once they get to their 40s.

Wiki says this lad is characterised as a progressive and liberal 😂

thefallingman

I don't get why people would want to tweet crap like this in the first place, regardless of age.

Teacher2020

I think society has come a long way in the last 10 years or so. 10 years ago those kind of 'jokes' were somewhat acceptable. They were all over social media at the time. You just have to look at sitcoms from the 90s and 00s and see how badly some of the 'jokes' have aged. I wouldn't hold someone accountable for those 10 years later.

JimmyVik

Looks like a couple of jokes to me.

People have been sending jokes to each other since email was invented.

I wish people would just get over themselves.

Kermit.de.frog

It seems to be far more than a couple of tweets in this case to be fair. This is the least offensive stuff.

silverharp

there should be something like a 10 year rule

People are too easily offended these days and jump on the bandwagon straight away.

I don't know why, maybe they think it's give them a sense of power or gives them an excuse to exercise their inner high horse.

Snow flake generation.

freshpopcorn

It would deepened on the post ie somebody said the odd offensive joke not really if they were calling for large members of a minority community to be stoned to death then maybe.

I do think people love destroying and trying to ruin people that they may not agree with more so than the caring act in calling people out on things that they put on.

AyeGer

People can change yes. But I’d be suspicious when a politician changes though, especially when the so called change happens to further their political goals.

wench

Didn't this all kick off because he posted something tasteless and offensive at the weekend? Perhaps he hasn't changed that much...

I Blame Sheeple

Unless you can make a life changing profit out of his demise and I mean a literal, never ever work again life changing profit, why would you give a flying hoot what anybody said 10 years ago? It's not like you can go back and remove the offense already doled out to the people who read it then.

Ironic but I saw a tweet recently by a scorned young lady that went along the lines of; ''Wow you're still thinking about that argument 2 years later how empty must your life be?" and I can't help but feel like she's onto something there when I see your OP.

realdanbreen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118529556#Comment_118529556

Well I suppose he is progressive if the benchmark for such in Unionism is Edwin Poots former leader of the DUP who believes the world is 6000 years old(6025 to be precise)!

SEPT 23 1989

only people on the right

Sonics2k

Context, and age of the person matter a lot. What a fully grown adult is saying on social media, compared to some young and dumb teenager, are very different things.

Now, if you can see a progression of character over time, then it's safe to say the old actions are not the same as their thoughts now.

Fandymo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058229700/should-people-be-judged-on-old-social-media-posts

Man makes jokes. What's the issue??

Fandymo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118529606#Comment_118529606

Should the Simpsons be banned? They called the French "cheese-eating surrender monkeys"

HBC08

UUP politician is a backwards eejit....what a stocker!

I don't think people should be judged on ten year old tweets especially when they were young teenagers as has happened in a few cases the last year or two.

I don't think you'd need to trawl through twitter to find evidence that Doug Beattie isn't a great guy.He suits NI politics though and this will do him mo harm.

gormdubhgorm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118529581#Comment_118529581

I agree.

But a couple of them are good lines in fairness. I had no idea who the fella was. I thought it was the one liner thread by mistake when I started reading them. Then read a few posts and realised it is a cleverly angled political thread.

If I remember correctly none of Gerry Adams posts got him in trouble - even though he referenced 'Django Unchained' once. Other times there were some bizarre ones about Teddy Bears and quotes from avant garde poets.

At least a few one the ones referenced in the OP got a smile out of me. If they were in the one liner thread they surely would have got a few likes.

Surprised most political parties don't have one of their PR team who will delete past tweets from anyone even interested in running for their party. Seems a simple enough thing to have done.

AyeGer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118530776#Comment_118530776

The ‘jokes’ he made.

dxhound2005

Everyone should do it. A teenager posting offensive content now could be ruling themselves out of some lines of work in the future.

NickNickleby

I believe we're heading into a brave new world. One where the world will be divided into two types of people. The first lot will be falling over themselves to be offended, and the second lot falling over themselves to apologise. Nirvana.

AyeGer

Even if he is dumped by the UUP. Jim Allisters TUV will welcome him with open arms.

Capt'n Midnight

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118529556#Comment_118529556

That says a lot about Wiki. Back in the day he would have been progressive and liberal compared to some in the TUV. Defo not militant enough for the PUP even if other things aligned.

But then changed his style to appear more progressive and more liberal than when he was in the DUP so he'd be more palatable/less repugnant to the UUP. Wouldn't have gotten into NI21 though.

Have the DUP played their hand too early ? It's only just at the start of the election cycle so looks like there'll be a lot of mud slung by May 5th. If it's the DUP they are opening Pandora's box. Shafting the UUP means that the next first minister will be digging with the other foot.

Fandymo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118531033#Comment_118531033

I don't see any issue with them.

He pops up on Twitter the odd time and seems an alright auld sort compared to a lot of Unionist politicians.

AyeGer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118531957#Comment_118531957

I thought so too I was following him for a while. He seemed decent enough not like the extreme Allister or any of the DUP hardliners.

BrianD3

Must admit I laughed at the p*key one. I'd say some p*keys would laugh at it too.

Pawwed Rig

Anything you do before the age of 30 should be deleted forever. After that you're fair game