http://tinyurl.com/5f92af

When I talk with our new staff about ethics, we discuss their online presence. It’s amazing to see how many 23/24 year-olds scribbling down/texting reminders to themselves about checking what they’ve posted… but the discussion is even more valuable. I learn something with them every single time!

One of the things that will probably happen is that current standards of what is appropriate will be eroded, as lots of people who don’t meet that standard argue not that they made a mistake but that the standard is stupid and “everyone does it.”

As more people do things that aren’t very good, goodness itself becomes their enemy.

I won’t say that some are predisposed to become gossip queens, but perhaps some are predisposed to sharing more than others: the question is whether they use that character trait for good or evil I suppose, and how adults and young adults’ peers can steer them one way or the other. I often find myself thinking that adults are far worse influences on young adults than we give ourselves credit for.

We like the juicy gossip: we ask our children (well, if I had a teenager I probably would) who’s dating whom. “We” (and here I use the word we in the proverbial sense, as I’m not inclined to agree) place significant emphasis on being the cool kid, or at the least highly sociable.

I think the problem is an endemic one in our society: we tend to over-value the football player and marginalize the “nerd”. It’s the same old story, only now it’s being played out on a massive scale.

I’m still not convinced this is a real problem in the real world. All we have is recruiters saying “yes, I’ve googled people, and yes, I’ve thrown out applications because of what I found”…but that’s hardly proof of a problem. Are these rejected applicants just applicants who would have been rejected at a different point in the process? Has there been a fundamental change in what entry-level positions recent grads have been able to get, or how much they’re able to be paid, or how many applications they have to fill out?

It would be ironic, I think, if it turns out that posting “embarrassing” content online saved everyone time and money by helping employers and applicants determine whether they would actually be a good fit in the long run. In that case, is advocating that students change who they are online both confusing their personal compass and hurting the economy?

How about we go back to teaching students to avoid dangerous behavior (or at least be aware of the risks) and tell them to let their online life be an honest reflection of their real life?

I often even have to find myself thinking through sending a funny email I write or posting something on a blog: “ok, this is really funny and appropriate today, but in 20 years will it still be funny, or could it be hurtful to me or someone else?”

I believe it was on Vicki Davis’s blog (even though I can’t find the post now) that she talked about teaching her students the “presidential test” before posting anything online. It goes something like, “If in 30 years you were running for president, what could the media say about this picture/post/media.” If nothing negative — post away, if it could somehow be misconstrued — think twice!

In a world where the Internet becomes your permanent record, there is definitely a huge risk in being that transparent… Web literacy is a competency that should be apart of the curriculum as soon as possible.

Thanks for the post!