TV Drama BLUE BLOODS Warns of Social Media Risks

In the October 24th episode “Loose Lips” of the CBS drama BLUE BLOODS, the social media sites Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube all “took it on the chin” with a subplot of NY Police Commissioner Frank Reagan’s father Henry and Frank’s granddaughter Nikki getting stung by their social media activities.

In one scene, Nikki’s mother Erin runs into the Rutgers admissions person who interviewed Nikki for college. Pressed by Erin for feedback on the interview, the admissions person reveals that Nikki’s social media activity will prevent her from being offered a place at Rutgers.

Thanks to the same cruel tweet on Twitter about her history teacher, Nikki’s classmates are then subjected to an in-your-face lecture about the dangers of inappropriate comments anywhere on social media.

In addition, Commissioner Reagan’s father Henry, over a few drinks at a fundraising dinner, makes some remarks privately to one other person. But a nearby waiter records on his cell phone the ill-advised comments connected to police brutality and uploads the video to YouTube. Can you say viral in record time?

While TV dramas are fiction, these social media warnings are extremely important for students, job seekers, campaigning politicians, or people anywhere whose ill-considered social media activity can be held against them.

At the beginning of each of my three HOW TO SUCCEED books for teens and young adults I have a full-page warning about the risks of social media postings. As the episode of BLUE BLOODS demonstrated, these warnings should be taken very seriously.

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller) is the author of fiction and nonfiction books/ebooks, including TOP TIPS FOR HOW TO PUBLISH AND MARKET YOUR BOOK IN THE AGE OF AMAZON and the romantic suspense spy thriller CIA FALL GUY, as well as newly written books not yet published. She can be reached at pzmiller@gmail.com