Digital Dirt
Social media is a great way to share information quickly….that is the good news. It is also the bad news! The popularity of sites like Facebook and Myspace make it easy for people to stay in touch and keep tabs on what’s new….but, what if people want to share details about you….that you don’t want everyone to know…..then what do you do?
People are discovering that they may be exposing too much information about themselves on social media sites. In addition to issues related to the practice of YOU sharing too much info about YOU (someone I know recently posted that he was in the bathroom at Starbucks), is the large issue that you cannot control what your friends say about you and to each other. To make matters even worse, even if you block them, they can log on as someone else and continue to post comments for all to see or just post their comments on their own pages.
Think of social media as a big “room” where anyone can talk to anyone at anytime……..you can also jump from “room” to “room” to meet with any of your friends (and their friends). You can also access the conversations for total strangers that do not control their profile and access…..as we are finding out, this is good and bad all at the same time.
Here is a recent example I found of a man and woman that were getting divorced. The wife was posting angry comments on the husband’s Facebook wall. The husband was embarrassed and tried to block the wife from posting any future comments. Ever after the husband blocked her access; she continued to post comments by logging on as another friend.
One last “gotcha” is that HR folks and lawyers can make use of this data too. HR folks and recruiters routinely access social media sites looking for information regarding candidates. Exposing too much information to potential employers about our social lives can be an issue whether we like it or not. Attorneys are using data gathered from Social Media sites in divorce cases where people are posting information regarding boyfriends, girlfriends and gifts.
Why is this happening? The early users of Social Media are aging and employers are becoming more savvy. Social networking is great for connecting, but not so much for disconnecting, therefore resulting in a online tabloid where people are reduced to airing their dirty laundry in front of their friends and co-workers….it is real reality TV.
How did this all start? Well…..with Google. The popular search engine enabled all of us to become private eyes — we can look up anyone and anything on the Internet with the simple click of the mouse. Social media was just the next step to complete and open access to everyone’s “digital dirt” 24X7.
What can I do?
- Remember that once a pic or message is out on the internet, then it is generally out in the public domain for good….so the best thing to do is to not post questionable information.
- Be careful who you friend and make sure that your security settings are as tight as they can be……many profiles let anyone see anything….not good.
- Everyone should make a habit of searching yourself to see what comes up. This is called Narcisurfing……be sure to go to multiple search engines and see what is out there.
- If you find something about you that is objectionable, you should try to remove it or contact the webmaster of the site and get them to remove it.
- Be sure to manage your profile regularly.
Can you turn the tables? Yes, of course you can. If you are a job seeker, use Google to learn something about your interviewer and potentially establish rapport during the interview. Social media can actually help you. LinkedIn is a great source for useful professional information.
Have fun being social….but don’t be too social….if you know what I mean!
Tags: Digital, Dirt, Facebook, G.1440 News, Google, Larry Fiorino, LinkedIn, Marketing, MySpace, Privacy, social media, social networking, Tech Topics, Tweeting, Twitter
