body likes that.” On many occasions, the personal I personally don’t understand the indi- things you post on the web will do more viduals who write personal status updates, harm than intended. and I try my best to avoid them when I see If you hated your boyfriend for somethem. I just wonder why there are people thing he did, the best thing to do would out there who actually feel the need to be to go up to his face to tell him personshare such intimate thoughts and feelings ally why he’s a jerk. Publicly telling all 800 when they clearly know that there’s going of your “friends” is another story. If your to be at least one person who could not status update is talking specifically about a care less about what’s going on in their life. certain person, then it isn’t a status update By doing this, it’s almost as if they’re ask- anymore — it’s become a public e-mail. ing to be judged. Let’s just take a moment now to think The creators of Facebook, however, of how embarrassing it would be to send a have made it clear that they’ve wanted the private e-mail to the address book of your site to be a mechanism for bringing people entire class at school. This is essentially together. what Facebook is. It’s not just a social net“Facebook’s mission is to give people work. It’s a big “send all” button revealing the power to share and make the world all your intimate secrets. more open and connected,” says the comFacebook’s Timeline also gives uspany’s mission statement. They’re right ers an easy interface, which means that about social media making the world more essentially any techno-challenged person open and conin the world can nected, but have easy access to that’s not necall the things that essarily a good you’ve ever posted “It really bothers me thing. online. when I see someone else Technolo This is ancomplaining about their gy runs almost other big problem life on Facebook. It’s like with treating your everything in they’re crying out for at- Facebook account our daily lives; the world is allike a diary. All tention and no one likes ready as transanyone needs to do that. parent as it is. is click on the year — Toby Chen, junior and month that Do we need it to be even they’re interested more so? This in and the Facequestion is constantly raised but never book Timeline will take them right to it. properly addressed since many people Does knowing that your personal posts out there still don’t realize the fact that could be read by any stranger in the world the Internet is permanent and everything scare you? It should. It’s something that you put online will remain there forever, gives further evidence as to why you must whether you want it to or not. always be wary of the things you put on
your wall. The issues regarding Facebook not being your diary run deeper than just being annoying. Over-revealing posts can be a safety concern also, and should be taken seriously. You should also be concerned about the things you’re posting if you’re looking for work since as high school students, we all know finding a job is hard enough as it is. Never getting an opportunity because of a stupid update you posted online can make things even harder. Your employer is most likely not going to be a huge fan of your personal posts, and your actions can affect your workplace’s image. One vent on Facebook could keep you from getting that prized position. It seems as though through the years we’ve started a trend; replacing real relationships with electronic communication. For some reason it has become more satisfying for us to be candid in front of strangers on Facebook instead of the real people who are standing in front of you. The moral is, be open if you really have to, just not on your Facebook page. Don’t write anything online that you wouldn’t say directly to a person’s face, and don’t complain just for the sake of complaining. And before posting anything online, it’s important that you ask yourself two questions. “Will this hurt someone else?” and “Will this hurt my own reputation?” If the answer to either question is yes, then step away from the computer. Be smart and use social media only for communicating with friends and family. And if you happen to feel the need the complain about your day, it’s probably time you went back to writing in your diary. v
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