It used to be that what we said or did only had fairly local ramifications. Sure, a kind and generous act maybe hit the local news, but that was about it. Or worse, a humiliating picture might have been passed around one’s high school, but was soon forgotten. When I grew up there was simply no such thing as going viral.

Today, however, we live in a transparent world. Our thoughts, once shared with others, can seemingly instantaneously make a worldwide impact. When we do the right thing, it can encourage millions to open their hearts, even wallets, and care about a total stranger. When it is the wrong thing, it can result in the loss of a job, relationship and most certainly reputation.

In the last few months alone there have been pretty anonymous people who are now practically household names. Just a few weeks ago I saw a heart-wrenching post about a little boy named Colin who turns 11 on March 9. His mother had asked him if he wanted a birthday party and he said no because he didn’t have any friends who could come. So to cheer him up and show him that there were people who cared about him, she started a Facebook page called “Happy Birthday Colin” in which she asked those she knew to post nice birthday messages that she would show Colin. Her hope was that she could get maybe 50 messages to make his day.

Well, within a month of her starting the page, her goal of 50 people has been surpassed. More than 40,000 times over. Still almost two weeks until his birthday and Colin’s page currently has over 2 million “likes.” Over 2 million people throughout the world have sent Colin birthday greeting posts, cards in the mail, videos of them singing Happy Birthday, gifts. I saw messages from groups of firefighters, police, college fraternities and sororities, celebrities, and people representing practically every country in this world. The family had to turn down media requests after endless interviews. And it all started when one mother sent out a message, a simple message, asking if anyone would be willing to take a few seconds to wish her beautiful boy a Happy Birthday.

On the flip side, a 12 word insensitive and racist tweet to 175 followers resulted in the public humiliation and firing of a communications director. Within an hour of her tweet, tens of thousands of people responded. What Colin gained in friendship, this woman gained in enemies. And even though she immediately closed her Twitter account, the damage had been done.

Bottom line, good or bad, whatever we do has the potential to get around. And fast.

It is an interesting question if our actions today have a greater impact than they once had, or if we are actually only more aware of their impact?

According to Jewish Mysticism, nothing has changed other than our perception of reality.

Chassidic philosophy explains that not a leaf falls from a tree without an explicit purpose, direction and impact on the world at large. From the seemingly small things to the large, absolutely everything we do creates a ripple effect. And it is not just our actions, but the words we say. And we all know from those things that never should have been said, that our speech can have a lasting, if not life-long, impact.

Something going viral almost seems like the trick of a magician. One second there is nothing there—a person is completely unknown—and the next, a household name. Abra k’dabra. The origin of this phrase? Aramaic. For Abare k’dibur: “I create when I speak.” When we say something, we bring it into reality. We create reality. And we therefore choose, with every word we utter, if it will be a change for the better or the worse.

Jewish philosophy describes a human being as a “speaker.” Not a thinker, but rather a speaker is our distinguishing characteristic. Our intellect is considered useless if we can’t share it with another and use it to connect and form relationships.

And yet, in the very phrase in the beginning of the Book of Genesis that relates to the power of speech, we see that the description used for a speaker, a “nefesh chaya” a “speaking spirit” has other meanings. The word “chaya” which refers to speech also means “life” and simultaneously, “animal.”

The lesson is clear. Use our speech wisely—how it is intended to be used—and we merit the definition of a human being with a holy soul who has the potential to enliven and give life. Misuse or abuse our speech, and we are no different than an animal. We have a mouth and noise can come out of it, but it won’t help us connect, grow and develop. It won’t be a conduit to share our innermost thoughts and feelings.

Before the explosion of social media, the things we said, thought and did most definitely made an impact. Maybe we thought it only hurt and offended the person we said it to. Maybe there were others that were bothered by a comment that we never even knew got around. But unquestionably we made an impact. The difference today is we know when we do. All too often when we have said or done the wrong thing.

Transparency can be scary. But it is also unbelievably rewarding and exciting. It makes us accountable and responsible. Exactly as it should be. Every time we write something down, snap a picture or open our mouths we must recognize the power and impact we can make. The only question then becomes what outcome do we want it to have? If what we do today goes viral tomorrow, what message do we want the world to receive?

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