The Keyboard is Mightier than the Sword
by attackofthelines
Words are powerful indeed. They spark wars, state peace treaties, destroy reputations, establish personalities, build relationships and break them.
Maybe that’s why heroes and villains have their payabangan moments before every fight. The villain needs to insult the hero first, and then the protagonist retorts with his good vs evil speech. Of course the better lines would have to go to the hero.
Kidding aside, the power of words have reached a new height with the Internet. While the Web contains a mix of images, videos, and other audiovisual elements, it is mostly made up of words. You type in words in your favorite search engine to retrieve pages containing more words that state the information you want. Hello Wikipedia. Your blog posts are perpetually made up of the written word; even photo blogs have words to describe the images that you see. You either use some particularly imaginative words or direct and simple crass ones when you rant on Facebook, Twitter, or on Tumblr.
Companies, products, brands, governments, personalities, and whatever and whoever else use words to communicate, inform, and project an image.
Not to mention that you ultimately use words to communicate through e-mail, FB messages, Twitter replies, blog comments, and YM chat.
Just as your words can and will be taken against you in a court of law and in real life, they can and will make or break you on the Internet.
A slightly misworded status message can produce an entirely different meaning, a single tweet can start a Twitter war (hello Justin Bieber and John Mayer), what started out as a mere “speaking out my mind” stat can either garner you a wave of supporters or get you a hate club. Even if the Internet is supposed to be a free-for-all kind of thing, you still have to be careful of what you say.
In the OrCom sense, organizations take great stock on what they say and what is being said about them on the Web. Wise companies know what kind of information to reveal, the right kind of words to say to their target stakeholders, and even when they put up blogs, Facebook pages, and Twitter accounts, they know that more than keeping their audience engaged, it’s as important to keep their image and reputation in check. On the other hand, even the lack of online presence can say as much about the company. People can take it against the organization in a way that it seems closed off from people or that they just don’t have any interest in talking to their stakeholders through the internet. In these times, that’s not the best move to make.
Thing is, the Internet is one huge grapevine where everything gets known to everybody in just one second. With just one click on the “Send,” “Tweet,” “Share,” or “Post” button, whatever it is that you wrote gets broadcasted on the whole of Netdom. Even if privacy settings stand in the way of other people looking into your message, it still gets known by people who matter to you.
On the organizational scale, what they write is right there for everyone to see, share, comment on, praise, and criticize.
What’s particularly amazing (and terrifying) about the Internet is that everyone can respond to any message you make, and more often than not, people read and believe what their own kind is saying about an issue.
Furthermore, what you say, nay, write on the Web stays there and can even transcend the boundaries of virtual reality. So the “delete” button is there for a purpose. It’s just as easy and as fast to retweet, reblog, share, and copy-paste-save. By the time you realize that there is something wrong with what you posted, it’s already far too late. Worse, there is written proof that you indeed said what you said. What this means is that you have to be really very careful with anything you post.
In the end, it is still the written word that wins wars, whether they may be in the real world, or on Twitter. And if in times past, it’s the pen that is mightier than the sword, then today, it’s the keyboard that wields the real power.
Attack of the Lines 
Words are indeed powerful tools. The use and misuse of words can either result to an unforgettable success or a fiasco. Nowadays that the keyboard is gaining more popularity than the ‘mighty’ pen, it is important for us to discern when is it appropriate to ‘share’ or ‘tweet’ our thoughts and when to be silent. After all, silence is also a powerful communication tool;)
Silence can mean a lot of things. It’s not true that silence means yes. Well, at times, that’s the case, but sometimes, keeping silent can do more harm than good.
Silence is the loudest word one can hear. If there is nothing being said about something, we tend to get more curious about how it goes. This show that we are hungry for information. When we know less, we want to know more. Same goes with stalking. (we search for related information to fully know the person)
Keyboard is the mighty tool. What you press there can be permanently make or break you. There are some cases that typographical errors usually entail an untinentional meaning conveyed. We must all be careful and proofread before pressing the ever great and powerful “enter” key.
-agrees with Kim-
The terrifying thing about the words on the net is that once it’s out there, there’s not turning back. Companies should be able to discern when they should use their online accounts because merely jumping on the bandwagon may harm them more than do good.
The pen has always been mightier than the sword. Words can make people understand while brute force more often than not merely invokes fear. Nowadays, the pen is being upgraded to the keyboard to reach more people. It’s nice to see that old things follow the trend.
Communication is still communication. You can never take back what you say, write, or blog about. There’s that theory back in Linguistics, right? I forgot, but yeah. So we really must be careful about our messages, whether spoken or written.
One thing that struck me about the Net ‘scandals’ is that everyone *likes* to pitch in. Even if it’s not their business, if it’s online and they can access it, expect people to comment and share and contribute to the ever-growing number of comment pages. It’s one of the reasons why things spiral out of hand when it happens online – there are so many people talking and commenting and adding their own interpretations that the whole issue gets distorted.
it was brilliant nadz. however small the font is i really tried to read the entire thing. its a good point that words overpower swords. it cuts deeply. that is why organizations need to use words with utmost care. it can either be beneficial or detrimental, depending on how they play out.
Words make or break on the Internet. We all really should be careful with what we say, even with stat messages or tweets.
Yes. The web hosts practically multitudes of grammar nazi’s, communication experts and amateurs alike – or students, like us, who are, i’d like to assume, are constantly attracted to such issues, and thus word choice and use should always be given due importance. Though it may not be the channel or the message that is of greatest value since the communication process is quite complex, it pays to pay attention to every little detail. A little caution goes a long way. 🙂
Agree! The smaller details are what sometimes get the most attention.
One of the reasons why I never post anything personal online is because once it’s there, it’s there forever. The thought of people finding every detail of my life sprawled out on the internet for everyone to see and enjoy scares me.
This is also why companies should be careful of who they place in charge of their online accounts, especially when the said accounts are for customer service. When the people in charge aren’t careful, whatever failure they post is gonna be there for a very, very long time.
The difference between a soldier and a spy is that spies can kill without firing a single shot. Psychological warfare is indeed a very powerful tool.
Psychological Operations has never been limited to war or armed conflict. Everyone uses it everyday. Merely the way we talk or the way we dress is a psychological operation, whether we do it consciously or unconcsiously.
In the Corporate World, they just renamed PsyOps into PR (Public Relations) or Corporate Affairs. Pretty much the same thing. It’s about defending from attackers, and winning hearts. Not through the use of armed conflict, but through the use of intelligence.
The most powerful weapon combination anyone could ever have is intelligence and passion. A brilliant mind, and a human soul on fire.
Dear God, you’re right! PsyOps is PR and Corporate Affairs. Which makes us master manipulators. I LIKE THAT.