Your Web sins will find you out!
The Daily Mail headline screams out “Girls at Risk.” Apparently young girls are being incited by friends to post provocative pictures of themselves on Facebook, Bebo, MySpace etc., … because it’s cool! What are these silly adolescents thinking? They are putting themselves at immediate risk from predatory paedophiles. But they also have a much more long-term problem. Once the photos are out there, they can never be called back. What will these girls say when sometime in the future prospective mothers-in-law check up on their Web history?
Never put anything on a computer (on Facebook or in e-mails) that you wouldn’t want the whole world to see – because they will see it. The ‘cool’ guy who shares his innermost secrets online, or his risqué photographs, or his humorous anecdotes; or who vents his spleen about ex-colleagues and ex-employers, or brags about drug taking or other illegal, antisocial or inappropriate behaviour, is … an idiot with tunnel vision. His material will be seen, not only by like- minded people, each with a ‘fun’ sense of humour, but also by others with malice aforethought.
Potential employers are scanning the web to check out job applicants. According to CareerBuilder.com, a large US online job- finder site, HR departments are using search engines in their due diligence checks, uncovering incriminating evidence posted on social networks. Disloyal comments about past employers, or the release of their confidential material, the use of inappropriate screen names, sloppy or lewd vocabulary, even a poor writing style, can all lead to that rejection slip.
I know of one young lad who was offered an interview for a place on an MBA course. The university Googled him, only to discover that some years earlier he had posted a blog on how to subvert the local telco charging system. The offer was immediately withdrawn.
Be sure, on the Internet your sins will find you out.
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