once you hit send, you can't get your txt msg back

Case 1: You sent angry texts and emails to a friend. Some of the statements in the messages were lies and exaggerations about mutual friends. Two hours later, your "friend" forwarded the messages to other friends. People were hurt, insulted, and made a very big deal of it.

• The danger here is one of reputation. You will lose your friends' trust and cause conflicts. This type of behavior causes you to lose friends.
• Friends and close relatives should be aware of the issue, especially if they were a target in your tantrum.
• One of the best ways to avoid sending something you might regret is to write a draft and wait 24 hours (or even an hour!) before hitting the send button. Remember that all electronic communications may potentially be forwarded, shared, and manipulated by others.
• You should email friends with an apology and tell the truth. However, if you don't think a message will benefit anybody or help the situation, don't send the message at all. You could be creating more drama or furthering someone's embarrassment.

Uh oh...there's silly footage of me on YouTube

Case 2: Somebody at a party made a movie of you and your friends acting like idiots. Maybe there was alcohol or maybe you talked trash about your friends and family. Whatever the scenario, now the movie is on YouTube and people can see it.

• If the footage includes underage drinking, this could be a very damaging video. In addition to parents, anyone in the world can watch it, including the police and school administrators.
• If you recognize other people in the movie, you should contact them to let them know that it's on YouTube. You might want to apologize to anybody that you slandered in the movie.
• To have the video flagged or removed, you might have adults contact YouTube or you might confront the person that posted the video.
• In the best of possible worlds, you would not drink while underage and surround yourself with untrustworthy friends who would film and post that kind of content.
• More information on these issues can be found at Pew/Internet. Also, you might visit YouTube to read more about their policies and FAQs.

Strange encounters through SNS

Case 4: Somebody that you met on Facebook or MySpace (you've been chatting for about two weeks) wants to meet you for pizza.

• Ummm...this is a problem, especially if you are a teen. You have no idea who this person is.
• Ask your parent about meeting this person before you set it up. Keep in mind that friends don't always offer the best advice. You can tell them, but don't seek their counsel.
• To avoid unwanted solicitations, you can make your profile private. Instead of responding to strangers, you can ignore the message or delete comments.
• If you want to meet this person, absolutely tell your parents and meet in a public space with friends. DON'T GO ALONE.
• To raise awareness and to help teens make informed decisions, we could invite people with first hand expereinces to talk at schools. Also, we could offer night program that would target teens and their parents.

Profiles can be public or private

Case 5: You are applying to colleges. Your schools of choice have informed you that they plan to search for you and look at your profiles in MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter.

• Be aware of damage to one's reputation. If you know that certain audiences will be looking at your profile, you will be more inclined to fix any inappropriate information that could taint your image.


• In addition to applying to colleges, young adults should consider the possibility that scholarship and grant organizations may access online content during the decision making process. I would remind my friends to be thoughtful about what they should share and what they shouldn't share, such as information about one's night life.


• You can set various levels of privacy and control so that you can approve comments from your friends before they appear on your profile. You can limit the people that have access to your page by limiting access to those people that you invite to see it.


• To make other teens familiar with this issue, I would do a little research before posting a disucssion online in popular hotspots and social networking sites.

Caught blogging about our job and our coworkers!

Case 3: You complained about work, your employer, and your coworkers on your blog and/or comments wall. Your workplace saw what you did and now you are in trouble. What are the issues?

• Can I write whatever we want because of my First Amendment right to freedom of speech?
• My coworkers are hurt because I did not confront them privately, person-to-person.
• Some people thrive on the idea that they have an audience for their drama. That's one reason why online profiles are popular.
• People become fearless when writing on a computer, ignoring the fact that their is a world of people that might read it.
• My parents should know about this issue, as should my supervisor.
• I should make myself a promise to be reflective about the information that I share online and I should honor that promise.
• Think before I write and click.
• I should make a deal with myself to only write about social stuff, no professional information allowed. Create a "vision" for the blog.
• Keep gossipy comments to myself.
• Talk to my employer about company policies surrounding Internet and the workplace.
• Consider it part of your job to keep professional information within the organization.
• To fix the problem, I could remove or delete the comments.
• I could apologize to my coworkers personally, and ask them whether they want me to make a public apology through the same medium that got me into trouble in the first place.
• To raise awareness as part of a public service or to share my experience, I could contact the newspaper, find information on the Internet.
• Make all employees read and sign the company's ethical code regarding using the Internet, including consequences if they fail to comply.

I just hate it when people steal my identity!

There is nothing more annoying than learning that somebody has been pretending to be me. Only I know what I like and what I think and how I want to spend my money. One way that I can protect myself against identity issues is to be sure to represent myself wisely online. I cannot control the world (although I want to, hahahahaha), but I can manage my identity in a small piece of it: the Internet.