An article on the Huffington Post by Katherine Bindly entitled "Why You Shouldn't Post Facebook Statuses About Your Hangover or Hating Your Boss" describes a new Website called "We Know What You're Doing".
The site, which was created by U.K. teenager Callum Haywood, essentially searches public Facebook posts for incriminating phrases like "hungover" and "hate my boss", and then compiles and posts them for the world to see. Since the posts are already public on Facebook, there's nothing illegal or even particularly unethical about it. It does serve as a reminder that we should all be careful about what we post anywhere on the Internet, and to review our Facebook settings (I know I just did!). It also reminds us that if we post something as public on Facebook, literally anyone online can see it.
As educators, we should also help our students be mindful of what can happen with the information that they post on the Internet, and that it may not be as private as they think. My middle and high school students can seem pretty unaware of these kinds of dangers, and as far as I know there has been no school-wide effort to try and inform the students of the risks involved by placing personal information online. While one of the benefits of living in a repressed society like China's is that there is a far less danger of Internet "stalkers" coming into physical contact with our students, this does not lessen the peril - not to mention embarrassment - of having sensitive personal information available to the Internet masses. I think that this will become a bigger issue for teachers as the ability to connect and share information online continues to become easier and more widespread amongst our students. It is our duty to help educate them of all the potential pitfalls of using the Internet to communicate.
Bob this is a very good point. We want the kids to have access to all sorts of information, which we try to guard against using firewalls and school security. We should be teaching them not be the stuff we try to block. We should be teaching them the other end of the information and the harm that can be done to themselves. They need to be aware that a lot of companies, schools (colleges), and other type of "hiring" agencies are scouting the Internet now seeing what people have put out there; that is what kind of image or person they are presenting as themselves. Social networking can work for or against if you, and today's students need to be very aware of that.
ReplyDeleteReadWriteWeb it's from yesterday thought it was right in line with your original post.
ReplyDeleteYikes! I am already paranoid about using any social media as a teacher, and this article just confirmed that paronia.
ReplyDelete- Jacob
Great point! I use facebook not to socialize but more to relax and play games. I usually tell my nieces and nephew to not put anything on your profile or status that they may regret later. I do not have my information on my profile at all. I try my best to keep my status and posts simple. I agree that having too much information about yourself, your just helping the stalkers know you better.
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