Tools of Communication
I didn't know Lindsey Boylan a few months ago. But using the direct message (DM) function of Twitter, we met in the disembodied way of modern society; in the way you can meet anyone nowadays. I was interested in her campaign to become the next borough president of Manhattan.
A former economic development aide to NY Governor Andrew Cuomo, Boylan actually responded to my "DM," reminding me yet again of the power of these modern tools to build coalitions and networks for good and evil.
A few months later, Boylan takes to Twitter and Medium and accuses Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment and being a total pig.
Boylan's courage has now led to other women telling of their experiences being objectified and worse by Cuomo, who is now facing calls to resign or be impeached.
Sidenote: Andrew Cuomo has been a bully for decades and has gotten away with it. Those of us who watched and excused this behavior in Cuomo and others over the years should be asking ourselves some mighty uncomfortable questions.
Seemingly overnight, the way we communicate has changed. Lindsey Boylan told her story using the power of modern communication tools. Just a few short years ago, she would have been ignored and vilified in the tabloids for speaking her truth against the political machine.
But Boylan recognized the power of these new tools and blew the whistle on a bullying, sexually harassing governor. Her Medium post is really worth reading. Read it here.
Boylan emboldened other women to tell their stories and predictably, the media swarmed.
This all led to the usual non-apology from Cuomo, who imitated the lame excuses of other powerful men in the same position. "Sorry if anyone was offended," he basically said.
When that didn't shut down the chorus of criticism, Cuomo tried the “I’m just a friendly Italian guy’’ defense, of course. Anyone who has been on the receiving end of a Cuomo tirade knows this is BS. Cuomo is nothing more than a schoolyard bully who gets what he wants by threat and intimidation. Deep down, he's probably just trying to meet the legacy of his father, former governor, Mario Cuomo.
But that's no excuse.
Technology has given people with courage like Lindsey Boylan the power to fight back by telling their truth. This is a massive shift in how we communicate, and people like Cuomo still don't get it. They are still playing the game the old way with leaks and smear jobs with their favorite reporters. But Lindsey Boylan didn’t need a friendly reporter. She had Twitter.
No one is using the new power of communication better than Meghan Markle.
Put aside that she and her husband, Harry, are rich and protected. Put aside that much of her story is about celebrity and that the Monarchy is an absurd and irrelevant anachronism. Markle has done what no one else, including Harry's mother Diana, could do. She shredded the secrecy veil of the Monarchy by telling the truth about what happens behind the curtain. And she did it using tools like Twitter and Oprah Winfrey. Markle did it on her schedule and with their message - like Lindsey Boylan. Believe them or not, it doesn't matter. This is their truth.
The use of Oprah Winfrey to deliver their message was a masterstroke by Markle. Winfrey had been lobbying Markle for months to submit to the interview. But Markle made it clear that she and Harry would speak on their timeline when they were ready.
Supporters of the Monarchy - and I know several - are aghast. Markle should keep her mouth shut, they say. Stiff upper lip and all that. But today, every one of us can tell our story on Medium and Twitter. Markle and Boylan have the power to tell their story, and there is nothing the Monarchy or Andrew Cuomo can do about it.
The Crown has a modern-day PR fight on its hands. In the dark, musty corners of Buckingham Palace, the Queen’s PR people are furiously trying to figure out what just happened, what it means, and what to do about it.
Cuomo is doing the same.
Wouldn't it be refreshing if Cuomo humbled himself enough to accept Lindsey Boylan’s truth and if the "firm" wasn't working overtime to craft the perfect response to Meghan Markle.
Social media is now our Truth and Reconciliation forum.
What these new communication tools give us all is the chance to tell our truth. You don't have to agree. You don't even have to listen. But you can never again get away with saying, "She's lying."
