That week my old podcast got dug up and my life turned upside down

Honestly, last Tuesday started normal until I got a text from a friend saying 'check Twitter, your old episode is trending'. Back in 2017, I hosted a small podcast and we had a guest who said some really dumb stuff about mental health. I disagreed with him on the show, but the clip got cut and shared without my pushback. By Thursday, I had lost two freelance clients who said they 'couldn't be associated' and my Instagram was flooded with angry comments calling me 'ableist'. The worst part was my apology video got 500 dislikes in an hour because people said it wasn't good enough. It felt like I was being judged for a 7 year old conversation I didn't even fully agree with. Has anyone else had old work taken out of context and blown up like this?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_thomas11d ago

Tbh this whole outrage cycle feels so overblown sometimes. It was a seven year old podcast clip and you clearly didn't agree with the guy. Honestly who even has the time to dig that stuff up and get mad about it now. The internet just needs a new thing to be angry about every week.

the_rowan11d ago

My friend Dave lost a job offer last month because of a tweet from 2012 where he joked about a movie. The hiring manager said it showed bad judgment, even though Dave was 19. That stuff sticks around forever and can still hurt people. I get what you mean @the_thomas about the outrage cycle, but the digging up part is the real problem. It means people can't ever move on from dumb stuff they said years ago, and it feels like we're all just waiting for our turn.

reesej2711d ago

Used to believe people should just own their old posts, but Dave's story got me. Holding a 19 year old's joke against a grown adult applying for work is messed up. We all said dumb stuff online when we were younger and figuring things out. That permanent record anxiety is real, makes you scared to even have an opinion.