The folly of youth…the agony of mistakes in social media
I recently posted on how social media is changing the game when it comes to reputation management. Social media is permanent and easily searched. Improper comments and verbal recounts or photos of last weekend’s debauchery WILL be there for everyone, including your employer to see. We are constantly hearing stories about adults who have later suffered the consequences of an irresponsible post on social platforms. And when we hear these stories, we instinctively say “that sucks, but, they should have known better”.
But what about teenagers?
Let’s be honest, we ALL made choices that we regretted when we were teens, myself included. However, over time, the memory of those mistakes faded, and we walked away with a valuable lesson. Nowadays, with social media, those mistakes can be broadcast to the world..and to boot, they are permanently archived. Bad decisions are quickly becoming scarlet letters that can, and will in many cases, affect today’s teenagers in their future endeavors.
The results of a recent survey of teenagers who participate in social networks are pretty disturbing.
* Over 60% of teenagers acknowledged that the things friends wrote in their profiles could harm their careers.
* 48% said they could be embarrassed by what they themselves wrote
* 38% said they regretted some of the items that had appeared on their pages already.
I’m reminded of the lyrics to “Kiss Off” by the Violent Femmes…
“I hope you know this will go down on your permanent record”
Unfortunate…but true.
Posted by Jeremy Hilton on Apr. 17, 2009
Comments
I couldn’t agree more with this, some things can come back to haunt you! Shuddering now thinking about a rogue Sudoku top score page that kept showing up in the engines with my name… groan. Really useful stats though!
Posted by Paula Dauncey on 04/21/2009 03:18 AM
Violent Femmes are classic. And yes, great reference to that lyric. Many fail to recognize the permanence of postings, tweets and the social media info in general. It IS permanent data that’s searchable (despite what some may perceive when they see them disappeared). This also brings up issues surrounding privacy, security and the like not only individuals but also enterprise interested in exploring social media tools. And why personally I prefer NOT to mix my social circles (eg. FB relegated mainly for personal—which I rarely use now a days & Twitter for more professional musings). Good post - looking forward to more.
Posted by autom on 04/17/2009 12:43 PM