For many years, I have been a part of the technical revolution, yet have actively avoided social media. At the beginning of last year, I was thrust into the world of digital communications. It was both a blessing and a curse.
It’s 2015 and for many, life revolves around Twitter feeds, Facebook posts, Instagram and Google searches. Whether we like it or not, the online world is now a part of the real world and I am skeptical of whether there are many people who realize the ramifications of their digital footprints.
Just yesterday, our class had the opportunity to speak to Rod Leland, a top leading expert on social media in southern Alberta as well as online marketing specialist and digital projects lead here at Lethbridge College.
Through a series of intricate explanations using metaphors and analogies, he was able to help us unravel myths contained within the global web and more importantly—explain the depths the corporate work force who will dive into your digital life, and it’s influence it will have on our future careers in this new and exciting era.
Though some things are very entertaining to watch, read, or listen to — even on my own feeds — I can’t help but question how one bad Facebook post, or a wrong share and who I follow on Twitter can highly affect my future. I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve made mistakes, poor choices and lived immaturely. So, don’t make mistakes too public, because the stream of data you leave behind probably won’t go away–people forget that online privacy is a joke.
I had the odd privilege of starting college the same year my son entered his first year of kindergarten, and quickly saw how the next generation has access to a whole library of information at such a young age. I realized it will redefine the social culture — in fact, it already has. There are five year olds who are already familiar with the concept of Google searches, Smart TVs and can navigate their way through a tablet PC.
Despite the fact that parents and society in general are improving their awareness of cyber-bullying and online security, many seem to not register the importance of educating their children on the dangers of posting harmful material.
In December 2014, a group of Dalhousie University dentistry students posted crude sexual comments about their female peers on a Facebook page, and nearly faced expulsion, major setbacks in their careers, and humiliation. To them, the stupidity may have been funny at the time, but surely it was no good for their future.
Earlier this year, Calgary-Bow MLA Deborah Drever was suspended from caucus for having numerous controversial images and posts on her social media accounts brought to the attention of the public.
Transitioning into new schools, new careers, and new lives is not easy. One bad post can make it worse. Those bits and bytes aren’t leaving anytime soon. And believe me, your teachers, your employers, and so many others are watching, some even digging.
Our digital behaviors are tracked in metadata form that is spewing through the cyber world. The boxes we click “I agree” to without reading the fine print actually mean something — and it’s not pretty.
That’s simply the world today. If some of our politicians had a Facebook page we could examine, I question whether they would have ever been elected.
We are all human and make mistakes with the opportunity to learn from them, but just remember, if you are going to air your dirty laundry online, you may as well get up from your laptop and actually go hang some outside your house, too.
Students, teachers and all the rest of us– what do we reveal to the world about our online habits? Watch what you post, be cautious whom you follow and be careful where you go because the future is in more than just your hands.
