Stupid technology tricks
Thursday, October 15, 2009 at 05:05PM 
OK, I lost the source where I read about this article (sorry), but it is worth passing along: When Social Media Bites at Forbes. The article lists examples of social networking misuse by adults ranged from a man asking his wife for a divorce on Facebook to having the diss of a new employer on Twitter being forwarded to the employer - all the stories giving some weight to the subheading: Kids get lectured about being careful on social networks. Adults should be scolded too.
There are some serious implications in all this silliness. According to "A study from Harris Interactive ... for CareerBuilder.com found that 45% of potential employers screen candidates via social media, up from 22% last year. Thirty-five percent of employers say they found reasons not to hire a person based on information they found on social network profiles." (As we ask all our new and student teachers "Are you sure you've deleted all your naked beer bong pictures from your Facebook page?")
If you read the article, don't miss the In Pictures: 20 Social Media Blunders. These will make you cringe and laugh at the same time and include:
Second Life is a virtual world where users can play out real-life fantasies. Little surprise, real love has resulted from virtual courtships. In the case of Amy Taylor in Newquay, England, it spawned heartbreak too. Taylor told the Western Morning News that she filed for divorce after walking in on her husband having a virtual affair on the service. The two met in a chat room and had held a marriage ceremony in Second Life.
Graduate student Connor Riley was pondering whether to take a high-paying internship at networking giant Cisco and tweeted herself out of a job opportunity: "Cisco just offered me a job! Now I have to weigh the utility of a fatty paycheck against the daily commute to San Jose and hating the work." A Cisco employee spotted the post and informed Riley that she'd pass it along to her hiring manager. Riley told MSNBC that she had already turned down the opportunity.
and
Cody Redenius' ex-girlfriend saw him posing with a shotgun in a Facebook profile and reported it to local police in Dane County, Wis. Redenius was under a domestic abuse injunction that prohibited him from being in possession of a firearm. The photo was enough to get him arrested.
So do we need social and educational guidelines for adults or what?
Oh, it seems like I remember hearing many an embarrassing story about e-mail faux pas in the mid-90s as well. Something sort of reassuring about the consistency of human behavior.
Reader Comments (3)
Your last comment is the most telling. Seems like so many of our "technology issues" are really behavior issues in disguise - whether the technology is cars (road rage) or computers. I think it has something to do with the false sense of security / annonymity (sp?) that use of some technologies give us.
right! but as we all see/know/read social media can be very helpful! every day i wonder about certain comments in profiles but i really get used to it. sometimes a pre-tutorial (before using the service itself) should be obligation! ;)
Hi Tim,
And I think we forget that the learning curve that comes with all new tech includes safe and appropriate use as well as knowing what buttons to push.
People are fascinating and frustrating!
Doug
Guten Tag, Ingrid,
I've long argued that online technologies are sufficiently dangerous that a safety course should be mandated part of training to use them. We wouldn't let people scuba dive or drive a car (dangerous technologies) without a lot of safety instruction!
Danka for the comment,
Doug