Question

Your digital activity is public and permanent," warns The Institute for Responsible Online and Cell-Phone Communication (IROC2). This nonprofit organization urges all users of digital equipment to act responsibly and safely and emphasizes, "You cannot undo your digital mistake!"

While people think their email messages, photos, videos and text messages are private, everything online has the potential to be archived, forwarded, and captured as a screen shot.   This digital footprint never truly can be deleted because everything you do on ht Internet, including searches and viewing photos, is saved in databases and backed up on servers in multiple locations worldwide.

Potential and current employers, college admissions officers, professional organizations, and officials scour online websites in search of information that could affect employment or acceptance decisions. In some studies, 75 percent of companies have policies to conduct online research of applicants, and 33 percent of employers searching the Internet found online content that resulted in eliminating an applicant from consideration for a position.   In several cases, employees have lost their jobs when objectionable comments and photos are discovered on social media, professional, and personal websites.

Parents and teachers are urged to talk with their children and students about the consequences of their digital interactions and about becoming a highly regarded digital citizen.   The bottom line is never to write anything online, including in email messages, that one day could become detrimental.

Have you seen or revived material from friends or coworkers that could be construed as objectionable by some people? If so, did you mention this potentially offensive content to the sender?   After reading this information, are you less apt to share material knowing that it is online permanently?   Why or why not?

Answer 1

As there is less awareness about the consequences of putting messages or any kind of private content on the Internet, it is common to be viewed most frequently on social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and other similar platforms. These days the price for Internet data packs is very low, making them very affordable by people who were not aware of it just a few years back. In a way, it's a very good thing for those who are using it wisely, but using it for the wrong purpose can put dire consequences on the uploader as well as the people the content is about.

Some examples that I have witnessed that may be objectionable are,

• putting their family pics and videos online in order to get fame using platforms such as Tiktok, Facebook, and Instagram.
• On social media like Facebook, people put content related to religion and politics in a way that is dangerous (have capabilities to incite riots) and also leads to rejections for job applications, as employers do check on platforms likes Facebook, LinkedIn to get a behavioral idea of the candidate.

I usually try to inform the sender or the uploader about the severity of the action. If I cannot, there is usually an option to report such incidents.

Yes, after reading this information, I am less likely to share material that might be problematic in the future because the content is permanent and can be used in various ways against me in the future if not today, like cancellation of candidature in college or jobs, defaming, or even can be used to blackmail.