It has taken me more than a decade online to realize that your brain is not a content machine.
Here’s what I mean by that. Not every thought you have needs to be packaged, posted, archived, or broadcast to the world. As a culture, though, every passing opinion feels like it deserves a platform. But, the cold, hard truth? Most of our thoughts should remain private.
If you want to see how oversharing can turn your life upside down, look at what happened to Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner in October 2025. The campaign went from “fresh new face” to “walking PR wildfire” overnight after a bunch of old Reddit posts – under the username P-Hustle – reappeared. These weren’t just cringeworthy posts. These were the kinds of offensive, angry, chaotic remarks you write when you assume no one will ever make sense of what you’re saying.
Spoiler: The internet always connects the dots.
While Platner deleted the posts years ago, screenshots last forever, so the digging began as soon as he entered the national spotlight. Suddenly, we were reading everything he had ever written – the jokes, the bitterness, the edge-lord comments, everything he had written during his darkest moments. It’s a full detonation of his online past, delivered right to the American political bloodstream.
Platner also apologized. According to him, the posts no longer reflect who he is today. Personally, I think that’s true. The more important lesson, however, lies outside his campaign: sharing your unedited thoughts online is a long-term liability.
Let’s talk about why.
1. The Internet Remembers Everything
Often, we treat posts as disposable emotions: we fire them off, feel better for a few seconds, then delete them and move on. The internet, however, is a hoarder. It keeps everything. People often screenshot, archive, and save things for no reason, either out of spite or boredom.
- Your rant from 2009? Still there on Reddit.
- Your edgy joke from 2013? It’s still floating around on X or Instagram.
- Your late-night spiral from 2017? A future employer is waiting for it.
Platner wrote his posts during an era when Reddit anonymity felt impenetrable. The problem with anonymity is that it ages like milk. Over time, those anonymous pieces of your past are more likely to return wearing your name tag.
A post can never be fully deleted. You only lose control over it.
2. Your Future Self Will Not Agree With Your Past Self
We don’t talk about this enough. But people change. In most cases, that’s a good thing. Empathy, self-awareness, and humility are all developed through learning, growing up, and developing self-awareness.
But the internet freezes you in your worst moment and demands, “Explain yourself.”
Some of Platner’s comments were made while he was suffering from PTSD and depression. Several others, he admitted, were written to get a reaction – classic internet trolling, dating back to the early days of the internet. Those posts don’t reflect the person he is now.
It doesn’t matter what context screenshots have when they hit the timeline, though. He was judged by the ghost of 2011 Platner in 2025. Every day, we all experience that on a smaller scale.
It’s unfair to stage a public trial over something you typed during your early twenties during a bad month.
3. Online Audiences Don’t Owe You Grace
I wish this weren’t true, but it is: You will be treated like entertainment by people online at your lowest point.
Perhaps you were angry. You might have been grieving. Maybe you were lonely, drunk, heartbroken, manic, or trying too hard to be funny. All of that does not protect you from backlash.
Platner explained, contextualized, and apologized. There were some people who accepted it. Other people didn’t. Many never will.
The lesson? Give the internet a loaded sentence and it will fire back.
4. Oversharing Closes Doors You Didn’t Even Know You Were Going to Need
Although not everyone is running for Senate, everyone has something at stake – relationships, jobs, clients, opportunities that you can’t even imagine yet. We saw this following Charlie Kirk’s murder, with people losing their jobs or relationships being severed.
But, before you post, consider the following:
- At 18, you don’t know you’ll someday need a background check to apply for a job.
- At 24, you never know whether the person you’re dating now will Google you in the future.
- As a 31-year-old, you don’t know you’ll want to start a business and suddenly need people’s trust.
As a result of the scandal, Platner’s political director resigned. His party scrambled. His integrity was questioned by voters. And, regardless of the outcome, the shadow of those old posts will follow him.
You aren’t the only person affected by oversharing – everyone associated with you is affected, too.For a tweet that you barely remember writing, that’s a lot of pressure.
5. Some Thoughts Are Just Thoughts — Not Content
When I first signed up for social media accounts and discussion forums, and eventually became a content creator, I posted some embarrassing posts. I posted anything that crossed my mind, whether it was hot takes, snarky threads, or silly photos. It felt authentic, but it was also exhausting
As I’ve grown older, I realized I was allowing the world access to the part of my brain that didn’t have all the answers.
It takes time for thoughts to form. In order to reach something wiser, we must have an internal debate. And, although this might seem harsh, does anyone really care?
Raw thoughts are like publishing your first draft of a book and then spending ten years explaining, “No, no — I don’t actually believe that anymore.”
It’s not your responsibility to share your stream-of-consciousness with the internet.
6. Being “Real” Doesn’t Mean Being Reckless
Nowadays, there’s a lot of pressure to be “authentic” online. However, authenticity doesn’t mean exposing every emotion you feel. Being honest is not the same as being unfiltered.
Platner’s posts weren’t “authentic” – they were raw, impulsive, and emotional. We all have thoughts like that. However, most of us do not post them where millions of people can later take them out of context and examine them.
- You can be genuine without oversharing.
- You can be open without being reckless.
- You can be real without being self-destructive.
Conclusion: Silence is a Skill
As I get older, I respect silence more and more.
- In silence, you can grow without making your awkward stages public.
- Silence protects relationships.
- Silence provides you with time to form opinions worth sharing, not just feelings that needed somewhere to land.
Platner’s story isn’t about politics. It’s about permanence. It’s a reminder that behind every post is a future moment when you’ll have to account for it.
If you are thinking about sharing an unfiltered thought, first ask yourself:
- Will this matter in five years?
- Will I still stand by it in ten?
- Am I posting this to communicate — or to release an emotion I haven’t processed yet?
- Will this version of me embarrass the future me?
You might hesitate, even a little, but take it from someone who has been online far too long:
Not every thought needs an audience. It’s better to leave some things unposted — and unpunished.