Workers on the state payroll are soon to be given a set of guidelines by the government when making use of social media, and public speaking.

Malta seems to have a bit of a grotesque relationship with Facebook. The fact that what you say on there has a reach over thousands of miles, different countries and different continents, seems to go over people’s heads.

Many still believe that a remark, unless printed, soon becomes forgotten. But it is not so with the internet of things. If anything, it is worse, one something is posted to Facebook, or Twitter, or any other social media platform, it has the potential to go viral in seconds. One case that immediately springs to mind was when Malta’s Tourism envoy launched into a blistering, racially slurring Facebook rant against the President and black people.

The government said that the set of guidelines does not extend to political appointees, and this is where things should have been shored up further. The Civil Service Head explained that while the guidelines can be enforced with regular employees, they cannot be enforced with political appointees.

We believe that with political appointees, the issue is even more sensitive, because of the positions that they occupy and as a result any out of line comments which are made carry even more weight.

However, as our title suggests, while guidelines are positive, people in general need to apply a bit of forethought, commonsense and decency when they post to social media. Social media is not an old man’s bar where thoughts and words are soon forgotten. Social media is where most of us spend our lives today. People should ask themselves: “Should I say this? Should it be me that is saying this? How will saying this affect me, and others?” If we literally took the time to ask these questions, then we would have much fewer digital faux pax.

It is also important for government departments and entities to also exploit the power of social media to promote the services offered by relevant departments, as well as using it as a news feed to keep people plugged in. Love it or hate it, this is the digital age in earnest. What we thought was the digital age was merely a preview of what we have today as most people have smartphones, tablets, lap tops and even Google glass. To be in touch with the world, you have to be plugged in at all times. But with great power, comes even greater responsibility and perhaps rather than a set of guidelines, we should all collectively examine our online behaviour, take stock and alter it accordingly.