Has Facebook made us shameless?
What should you publish on Facebook and what not?
October 2010 |
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As I already wrote in my former article about Facebook,
having too many friends on Facebook can get you into serious
trouble. As some people have thousands of “friends” it is
sometimes difficult to remember who is reading your
publications or going through your private photos.
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I do realize we are not all criminals, but see the following
example (one of many), of a crook caught by keeping a Facebook
account and befriending the wrong people:
http://bit.ly/4cQ8b3
Apart from that, people do write the most private details about
themselves or talk in a foul language they would not dare to use
in a public place. It is as if Internet has created a whole new
society with no social rules. People say and do things they
would otherwise be too ashamed to say and do. Maybe you have no
problem publishing this kind of messages at this moment of your
life, but maybe you do not want to explain to friends or
connections in the future why you wrote this on Facebook. But
even the people who read this article and feel they do not
belong to the group I am describing here will slip up now or
then and publish something they themselves, their friends and
family or their boss will not appreciate afterwards. Opposite to
the era before Internet publications are not confined to a local
newspaper and quickly forgotten. Publishing something nowadays
will not only go around the world if it is juicy enough, it will
also return from time to time and most likely not go away for
the rest of your life.
So, the best thing to do, apart from not publishing anything
online anymore, is to consider anything you write in an eMail,
Social media site or any other electronic way as if you are
writing an article on the front page of your national newspaper
with your photo next to it. If you would not dare to post
what you are writing on such a front page, then you better start
rewriting it or just forget all about it.
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