Examples of people not thinking through clearly the consequences of their online life continue to surface in various news articles. A recent article in the Washington Post looks at a number of teachers who maintain websites, or have other online presences (i.e. Facebook/MySpace), and how they have no clue about the visibility of such sites, or give much thought to who might see it and how that might affect their professional life. People are learning to use the Internet in positive ways to further their professional ambitions, but it seems far to many are still oblivious. The Internet is exceptionally good at taking things entirely out of context.
I continue to wonder how the current generation who conducts a large amount of their social interactions online, and who do share questionable content with friendly strangers, will change the culture of acceptance of these forms of interaction in the next 5-10 years. Will they learn to conduct their lives within the set of rules the current generation suggests? or will they usher in a change in culture and understanding. I don’t think anyone is arguing that previous generations didn’t do the same things, they just didn’t have the misfortune of digital cameras and the Internet to document their activities. Their memories are stored safely in a shoebox on a long forgotten shelf in a closet.
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