Leading the Way - June 2009
NALS Community and You
If you've heard it once, you've heard it a million times. You need to be careful about what you post on the internet! That includes the new NALS Community, too. The NALS Community is new and improved and it's a great place for our members to ask for information, share information, get to know more about your fellow NALS members and vice versa, and get more involved with NALS. It truly is a benefit for our members and we encourage each of you to register and participate. However, as with all social networking sites, you need to proceed with a little caution.
Social networking sites are the rage and everyone is involved with sites like the NALS Community, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, online communities, etc. While there are some extraordinary benefits to belonging to sites like these, you need to exercise a little good judgment, too.
One of our local television stations recently did a story about postings on Facebook and other social networking sites. Through a Facebook account, they found a local college student and based purely on what he had posted on his site, they were able to track him down. Imagine coming out of a class only to find a news crew filming, and the person they are filming is you. The reporter was able to determine exactly which class the student was taking, at what time, and in what building, among other personal information. Although the student was a little surprised, he said he probably wouldn't change what he was doing. If you post too much personal information, anyone can find you.
When you post your personal information on the Internet, you aren't just sharing the details of your life with your family and friends, but in actuality hundreds or even thousands of other people around the world. You have no clue who is reading what you wrote or where that person is located. Is that person harmless or is that person a criminal? Based on what you post on the internet, people know what you like and don't like, who your friends are, where you grew up, where you live, what's going on in your life, who your kids and grandkids are, where you work, what you're doing tonight, what you had for lunch, etc. If you don't want someone to know, then don't post it!
Whether you like it or not, information you post on blogs, communities or social networking sites can be out there forever. You may not realize it but networking sites are archived. What does that mean? Just like archiving documents at work for future use, the information on networking sites is archived. That means everything you post is saved forever and ever and ever. If your profile and the information you post has been on the internet for 3 days, it's probably been archived by someone somewhere. Sites like Google, who pride themselves on keeping track of information on anything and everything, will also keep track of all of your embarrassing pictures and off the wall comments that can easily be revealed in a simple search a month or a year or five years from now. You aren't just sharing information with friends or NALS members, you are sharing the information with the world!
Have you seen the movie Notting Hill? The main character, an actress played by Julia Roberts, opens the door to a sea of photographers wearing a man's dress shirt and little else. Hugh Grant's character, a simple bookstore clerk, tells her not to worry because the pictures in today's paper will line tomorrow's trash cans. She informs him that those photos will never go away and will surface in the future when she's looking for a new role, etc. That's what happens when you post to the internet. It will always be there.
We all love to share pictures on internet sites but
often fail to ask ourselves if posting certain pictures are a good idea. We
all love to share our photos with friends and family- little Johnny's first
day of kindergarten, showing off the newest grandchild, sharing our vacation
photos, etc., but we need to keep in mind that these photos can and will
be seen by others - not just our friends and family. We all know about
the pictures of Michael Phelps that recently came into question. Although
Mr. Phelps didn't take the photos himself, someone else did and saw no harm
in sharing them. The person(s) probably thought they were funny. These
photos were detrimental to Mr. Phelps and in some cases, cost him dearly. You
never know when something as a "joke" can come back to haunt you,
your family or friends, even your employer or NALS, in the future. Unfortunately,
there are a lot of kooks and predators out there who may use our pictures,
pictures we think are harmless, for the wrong reasons.
We've
all heard the saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" and that
is true today more than ever. Did you also know that the website you
post your pictures to in most cases own the rights to your pictures once you
post them? That means the company can do whatever they want to do with
your pictures. Even if you take your pictures down six months from now,
the damage is already done. Obviously that could be a problem if
you're looking for a new job, become a star, or decide to run for political
office.
In this economy jobs are few and far between. Chances are probably pretty good that when you interview for a new position, employers do a Google search to see what you've been up to. A recent survey shows about one-fourth of employers use the Internet to find personal information about potential employees. Imagine that! Your career can be over with a click of the mouse. Think about it. Would you be willing to attach a copy of your Facebook page to your résumé? Are you willing to publish photos and/or comments you post on social networking sites on the front page of your hometown newspaper? If your answer is "no" then why would you post them on the Internet?
Let's
say you posted information on Facebook that you're a single mother of two
children, 18 and 21. You also post that you're going to Irvine for the NALS conference
October 5-11, staying at the Hyatt Regency and leaving the kids in charge at
home. When you arrive in Irvine, you wouldn't walk around with a megaphone
yelling that you left you're kids at home and are spending the week at Hyatt
Regency, would you? So why on earth would you post to Facebook that you're
going to Irvine, staying at the Hyatt Regency and you leaving your kids at
home? Not only does it tell the world where you are going, where you're
staying and how long you'll be gone, you've just given thieves, kooks, and
predators a green light to break into your home and visit with your kids because
you've told them you're going to be out of town. Would you put a similar
ad in your local paper? Of course not, but people think nothing of
posting that information on a social networking site that can be seen around
the world.
Think about things you post on the internet using your real name:
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Happy Birthday to me! If you tell the world your date of birth (including year), it can be used for identity theft or maybe to answer a security question from your bank.
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Here, Spot! Many companies we register for on the internet as who your pet is as a security question. Keep Fido or Boo-Boo Kitty's name private or at the very least, avoid using it as a security question.
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Trash Talking. We already talked about employers searching online for information about potential employees. If you trash talk about your last employer, chances are pretty good you've talked yourself out of a job.
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Howdy, Neighbor. Got a neighbor you don't really like? Think about what you post about your neighbor. Any negative comments you say about your neighbor can be used against you in a lawsuit and even if there's merit to it, you'll have to pay legal fees to defend yourself.
As the commercial says, "if you don't want bad people to know all about you, be careful what you post."