I've got a life tip for you - Grownups should not post their opinions on social media. Case in point, Gary Lineker.

Now, Gary is about to announce that he's leaving his job at the BBC because of a social media post. This, in the UK, is very big news.

Gary's a very popular host. He's the highest earner at the BBC because of how popular he is. He gets a salary of about $3 million New Zealand dollars, he's a former professional football player - I wager that if you ask anyone in the UK who Gary Lineker is, they'll be able to tell you. That's how well known he is.

But he just torpedoed his own career by reposting a pro-Palestine video on social media that criticized Zionism and included an illustration of a rat.

Now know your history on this - a rat is an image that was used in Nazi Germany to characterize Jews as vermin. You don't get away with that, you've got to know what you're doing there.

And the thing about it is this wasn't even Gary's first mistake. Like with the first mistake - you could cut the guy a bit of slack.

Then he posted about migrant policy, got in trouble, posted about the Tories, got in trouble, posted about politics in general, got in trouble, and he'd be given many chances to learn that having a rant on on social media gets you in trouble - but he just couldn't stop himself.

When it came to posting that video and the little image of the rat, now he's gone. It is mind-blowing to me that in 2025, after 20 years of social media and of people getting in trouble, we still have people doing this.

I mean, we just had 'Bussy Galore', we had Damian O'Connor last year saying Hamas was justified in what they did on October 7th to women and children, we had Penny Henare posting a picture of David Seymour with poo coming out of his eyes and a bumhole for a mouth.

I mean, these are grown adults. It's like kindergarten stuff, isn't it?

You'd think people would think, would learn that it's not worth it, but I guess the dopamine hit you get from people loving what you say and the narcissism - those things are strong motivators, it would transpire.

Here's the thing - some people need social media for work. Influencers, for example, or the Māori Party, who appear to do all their politics on there or politicians who need it for publicity. And maybe, for them, the rules are a bit different.

Maybe they just need to stick to the subject at hand, like footballers post about football and nothing else, and the  Māori Party post about politics and nothing else. And maybe don't tweet after you've been drinking.

But for the rest of us, get off it. Adults do not need social media.

LISTEN ABOVE

I've got a life tip for you - Grownups should not post their opinions on social media.&nbsp;Case in point, Gary Lineker.
Now, Gary is about to announce that he's leaving his job at the BBC because of a social media post. This, in the UK, is very big news.
Gary's a very popular host. He's the highest earner at the BBC because of how popular he is. He gets a salary of about $3 million New Zealand dollars, he's a former professional football player - I wager that if you ask anyone in the UK who Gary Lineker is, they'll be able to tell you. That's how well known he is.
But he just torpedoed his own career by reposting a pro-Palestine video on social media that criticized Zionism and included an illustration of a rat.
Now know your history on this - a rat is an image that was used in Nazi Germany to characterize Jews as vermin. You don't get away with that, you've got to know what you're doing there.
And the thing about it is this wasn't even Gary's first mistake. Like with the first mistake - you could cut the guy a bit of slack.
Then he posted about migrant policy, got in trouble, posted about the Tories, got in trouble, posted about politics in general, got in trouble, and he'd be given many chances to learn that having a rant on on social media gets you in trouble - but he just couldn't stop himself.
When it came to posting that video and the little image of the rat, now he's gone. It is mind-blowing to me that in 2025, after 20 years of social media and of people getting in trouble, we still have people doing this.
I mean, we just had 'Bussy Galore', we had Damian O'Connor last year saying Hamas was justified in what they did on October 7th to women and children, we had Penny Henare posting a picture of David Seymour with poo coming out of his eyes and a bumhole for a mouth.
I mean, these are grown adults. It's like kindergarten stuff, isn't it?
You'd think people would think, would learn that it's not worth it, but I guess the dopamine hit you get from people loving what you say and the narcissism - those things are strong motivators, it would transpire.
Here's the thing - some people need social media for work. Influencers, for example, or the Māori Party, who appear to do all their politics on there or politicians who need it for publicity. And maybe, for them, the rules are a bit different.
Maybe they just need to stick to the subject at hand, like footballers post about football and nothing else, and the&nbsp; Māori Party post about politics and nothing else. And maybe don't tweet after you've been drinking.
But for the rest of us, get off it. Adults do not need social media.
LISTEN ABOVE

With a straight down the middle approach, Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive on Newstalk ZB delivers the very latest news and views to New Zealanders as they wrap up their day.

Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Grownups don't need to use social media

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/7784f840-c291-422a-924b-ad9000bbad71/clips/03bff3f5-364b-4390-8fbb-b2e2007e9579/transcript