Our reputations, identity, and how we want to be remembered can all be drastically changed and manipulated in the digital world we live in today. You really have to be mindful of how you are representing yourself online. Every post to a social network and every email you send must be written with the mindset, “What if my mother was to read this?” If you don’t you might be stuck dealing with a documented digital embarrassment.
Sadly few people seam to be aware of the importance of this. The Internet seams so vast and so unending, but part of that means whatever you put out there is going to be impossible to real back in. “Spoken word dissolves, but written perpetuates the scandal” this is a Daniel J Solove quote from the Future of Reputation and it resonates to the core of this issue.
There have been many cases of employees being terminated due to a Facebook posting or an improperly forwarded email. At my work recently a woman was let go for posting a craigslist rant in which she vented all of her frustrations with the school and the students in a 6 page online document that seamed to go into more detail than our constitution. She did not post her name or the schools, but in reading the post it was certainly not hard to figure out either.
I had a blast using the online identity calculator and MIT’s Persona project. I have developed and unique spelling with my name that makes it very easy to find information about me online, and I am very pleased that the online identity calculator showed that I was represented in the way that I wish to be. My personal web page, Facebook, and Myspace are the first things that show up when my named is searched. This is amazing for an online presence, but that just reinforces the importance of maintaining a positive online image.
As educators I believe it is our job to maintain a positive online identity and to inform and stress the importance of this to our students. With the popularity of social networks and the ease of access to information we would be remiss if we did not aid our students in dealing with this issue.
Resources:
Daniel J. Solove. The Future of Reputation: Gossip Rumor and Privacy on the Internet, October 2010, http://docs.law.gwu.edu/facweb/dsolove/Future-of-Reputation/text/futureofreputation-ch2.pdf
I found it so affirming that you said, “Every post to a social network and every email you send must be written with the mindset, ‘What if my mother was to read this?’” I tell my daughters this all the time. I ask them would they write this if I was standing over their shoulder watching them. To know that there are other people out there that share the same belief is rather comforting.
ReplyDeleteIn your activity, you stated “There have been many cases of employees being terminated due to a Facebook posting or an improperly forwarded email.” It is interesting you bring this up because the principal at my daughter’s middle school spoke about this very topic. He cautioned students and parents to be careful with what they put out on the internet. Not only are people getting fired because of content, but employers are ‘Googling’ the applicants even before they are given a job interview. And in some cases, applicants are screened in this manner when they apply to colleges. Her principal reminded the students when you post something to the internet that it is out their forever. There are no ‘take backs’ when the internet is involved.
In reference to your statement “As educators I believe it is our job to maintain a positive online identity and to inform and stress the importance of this to our students.” I couldn’t agree more. I continue to stress this very idea to my own children each and every day. Just as I believe it’s important for teachers to maintain a secure and accurate online identity, I also strongly believe that it is up to the teachers to help provide the guidance that is needed for our students to create and maintain theirs. We can’t wait for online etiquette to catch up with the pace of the growth of data on the internet. With the innovation and advancements in technology that are emerging today and on the horizon, there may come a day when our online identities are indeed secure and accurate. Until that time comes it’s up to each individual to be vigilant about maintaining their own.