Online social networks and inappropriate posts

['Chelle]

I know someone who, in a chatroom, vented about how stupid her boss was. Didn't mention her bosses name, or her own name, but from a few things she said someone in the chatroom figured out who she was, and thus who her boss was. Turns out that person knew her boss, told him what had been said, and then next day she was out of a job.

Though you limit your FB to only friends, sometimes I've noted I can see pics and comments tagged of my friends from their friends not on my FB, and sometimes then look at their whole picture album. You have to be very careful what you post, it can get to more people than you think it is.

 

[Star*]

Daisy ------

800????? OMG

 

[susiestar]

I have friends that are 2 teens about Wiz' age. I was friends with the family when we lived in OH. Their dad is a very smart but not booksmart man married to the smartest woman I have ever met. Sadly she had a horrible life growing up with a father who was a major drug dealer in several states. And both parents are Satanists - NOT good parents. So she was into some stuff I do not approve of.

The girls are funny and sweet on FB. I like keeping in touch with them. They post reasonable things online. Largely because their mom posts naked pics of herself, and talks about her drug parties, etc... Mom is no longer a friend in the fb or other sense of the word. But the girls are. One of them had to get a court order to have pics her mom took of her removed from the web. Mom of course walked in on her in the shower and took pics - THOSE kind of pics.

Now that the girls are working they have to constantly monitor to keep from being linked iwth their mom - to the point of removing her last name from theirs (they were hyphenated).

I find it sad. THey didn't know about the pics until a college scholarship was almost lost because it.

Breaks my heart that their mom does that to them. FB is a wonderful resource for repo people, debt collectors, and law enforcement. Our cops monitor it regularly and are open about it.

 

[judi]

I joined here in 2001 and am an admin at a nursing website since 2000. You have to be careful is about all I can say.

Since my son is an adult, I really don't want him to be able to pick me out of crowd and I have kept details out of my posts.

Its common sense not to post too many details. HOwever, you wouldn't believe what folks post! I'm constantly amazed at how much editing, revising, pulling from view, posts that have way too much info in them.

For medical personnel in the US, we have HIPAA --- our privacy law and believe me, you don't want to violate that.

Also, on FB since real names are used, its just too scary to post too much.

 

[GoingNorth]

Yep. The real name issue is why I will never use FB or MySpace. Like I said, doesn't take a lot of Googling to find me by my real name.

 

[witzend]

In so far as "real names" go, it's very nice to have one that several hundred thousand other people have. I used to have a very unusual name, and my family was very large during my and my parent's generations. As soon as I said my last name, most anywhere I'd go, someone would know someone I was related to, someone would remember a story about some stupid thing I'd done in my teens. I really enjoy having the anonymity that goes with having a "Smith" type name!

 

[Marguerite]

I used to write on a pay-per-view website under my real name. That was 10 years ago. Not long before the site folded, the moderators stopped moderating, and I found myself getting nastily flamed. Not just on the site, but in my home town. Because I had used my real name, someone (I finally worked out who) was making my life a misery and copying/pasting my articles to people I knew, adding comments like, "Look what she's saying about you," when in fact what I had written was not about them, or anybody in particular. I had been VERY careful to make my articles as generic as possible, except when I was saying something nice about an event or a person (I did a review of a local concert and mentioned the first name of one singer; that comment of mine got flamed even though I was saying nice things).
People would read the woman's comments and not what I had written; or when they finally read what I had written it was already biased and so they read stuff that wasn't there.

So for ten years I have avoided having my real name on the 'Net. Until a few days ago, I just joined another online writers network. I'm taking a chance and counting on good moderators.

What I'm saying - even if you are careful to only write the sort of thing that you would be happy to see on the front page of a newspaper, it can still come back to bite you. All it takes is someone nasty and manipulative, bent on causing you harm.

I'm counting on my former nemesis having lost interest in me and moved on by now. I suspect she accumulates enemies fairly quickly, anyway!

Marg

 

[MyFriendKita]

In so far as "real names" go, it's very nice to have one that several hundred thousand other people have...I really enjoy having the anonymity that goes with having a "Smith" type name!

Agreed. When I google my real name, nothing comes up (well, nothing pertaining to me anyway). However, when I google the screen name I had on this board prior to the current one (which was also my e-mail address--big mistake when you're e-mailing the school as well), I come up with several posts I wrote as long as four years ago. Another good reason not to post too many details about our kids or ourselves.

 

[AnnieO]

On MySpace, you can find me one of two ways.
IF you know my real name AND my screen name - which is a conglomeration of two of my favorite movies from high school - and then I approve you... My profile's private...

On FB, it IS in fact under my real name. Which is unusual enough that someone could if they wanted to find me. However most of the people I don't want to talk to anymore know my by either my first married name or my maiden name - neither of which is up there. The only way my HS class knew it was me is... Er. I was the only person with that first name in the class, and I did mention my HS name and that I graduated in 1990.

I post almost NOTHING. I will write on the wall - hi, how are you? - and my own - I don't know what I am doing! - but that's about it. IMs are good.

The only place I post anything really is here. A few people could find me, but since I still don't have too much identifiable... It's all good.

 

[DammitJanet]

I suppose people could find me. Oh heck...now with facebook, I know they can find me! I want them to find me...lol. I would love to know how people I knew as a kid are doing now. It would tickle me pink if an old boyfriend found me. I certainly cant find them. I have looked. Doesnt help one of them had the last name of Jones. LOL. I dont think people I knew back then are computer folks.

Really...for some reason, I dont care if someone finds me. Maybe I am so boring it just doesnt matter.