Ron Schenone

The Internet Doesn’t Forget – Be Careful What You Post Or Say

Posted by on Jul 22, 2010 | 6 Comments

Places like MySpace and Facebook have changed the way most of us have socialized on the Internet. These social networks have provided a way to stay in contact with family and friends, but these same postings have also come back to haunt some. The N.Y. Times recently related a story about a student who was denied her teaching credentials since she was pictured on MySpace as a drunken pirate. The university felt that this type of behavior reflected poorly on a potential teacher and she was rejected for a teaching degree.

The story continues with the would be teacher taking her case to court and the court upholding the right not to issue her a teaching credential because she would be a public employee.

The story went on to state others who have had problems:

With Web sites like LOL Facebook Moments, which collects and shares embarrassing personal revelations from Facebook users, ill-advised photos and online chatter are coming back to haunt people months or years after the fact. Examples are proliferating daily: there was the 16-year-old British girl who was fired from her office job for complaining on Facebook, “I’m so totally bored!!”; there was the 66-year-old Canadian psychotherapist who tried to enter the United States but was turned away at the border — and barred permanently from visiting the country — after a border guard’s Internet search found that the therapist had written an article in a philosophy journal describing his experiments 30 years ago with L.S.D.

According to a recent survey by Microsoft, 75 percent of U.S. recruiters and human-resource professionals report that their companies require them to do online research about candidates, and many use a range of sites when scrutinizing applicants — including search engines, social-networking sites, photo- and video-sharing sites, personal Web sites and blogs, Twitter and online-gaming sites. Seventy percent of U.S. recruiters report that they have rejected candidates because of information found online, like photos and discussion-board conversations and membership in controversial groups.

The bottom line is this: do not post or say anything on the Internet that you wouldn’t want your mother to see or hear.

Comments welcome.

Source – N.Y. Times

  • Dick

    Excellent advise, Ron.
    Not only for the Internet, but for everyday conversation, no matter where you are.

    • http://wp3.lockergnome.com/nexus/blade/ Ron Schenone

      Dick,
      Thanks.

  • http://www.freewebs.com/tienkhoanguyen Tien Khoa Nguyen

    Thank you for the advise Ron. I am not a perfect person and have nothing to hide. However, some of the things that I have done are embarrassing or downright bad.

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  • YOGESH PAWAR

    For this articles even a 10 star is less

  • Ben

    Problem is, you don’t even have to say or do anything and you can still be wrongfully accused. Consider that Person A can post something online that’s obscene, inflammatory, or just plain wrong and pretend that Person B said it. Or, suppose someone takes your picture without your knowledge or consent. Let’s say in the mens’ locker room at your gym just as you’re getting ready to take a shower. Then that photo appears online with the caption, “Child Molester Caught in the Act”. Are you prepared to defend yourself if your boss happens to see it? Or law enforcement?

    Point is, the internet is a great tool for sharing information. But it can be abused. And that raises the question: if some kind of oversight is needed, who would be the responsible agency? Or has the amount of information on the net already reached an unmanageable level?