So, you’re addicted to Facebook or some type of online journaling. The weekend has passed and you want to remember it through photos and wall postings; heck, you may even create a group for you and your friends to join. Ed Board advises you to think again; the Web is public domain.
Potential employers, campus organizations and even the police may be scanning your profile, which may have unforeseen consequences.
The Jan. 20 issue of “The Chronicle of Higher Education” reported a scary reality of this online social hotspot. After Penn State beat OSU in a stunning victory this past October, students rushed the field to celebrate. Campus police were only able to arrest two people during the chaos. Less than a week later, the police were tipped off that students had started a group on Facebook called, “I Rushed the Field After the OSU Game (And Lived!).”
Long story short, campus police signed on to the site and began writing judicial referrals for those persons identified in the post-game mayhem photos posted by none other then the students involved.
Now, Ed Board would be lying if it were not amused by such a mindless incriminating act, but then again similar situations have happened on this campus.
Take, for instance, the rules of Panhellenic recruitment, a very strict and well-defined set of guidelines put in place to give all potential recruits an equal chance.
Some rule-breakers this year were caught mouse-handed by a few whistleblowers scrolling through photos posted on Facebook. Actives who were seen posing with first-years in candid party shots weren’t smiling after advisors discovered the online evidence. For punishment, some were forbidden from participating in official recruitment week.
Judging from others’ experiences, Ed Board advises students to re-evaluate their use of Facebook and take warning. Though it may seem tough at first, editing your profile could save you some face. Besides, no matter how hot you may look in a particular picture, Ed Board thinks it’s wiser to put it on the background of your computer instead of advertising it on the Web.
For the better, you could avoid a future lengthy explanation in front of a judicial officer as to why there are pictures of you drinking with underage students in the residence halls.
Or, for worse, that sleazy picture of you in your Halloween costume that your best friend posted three months ago could come back to haunt you.
Oh, and did Ed Board mention that your professors, those that control your grades, can join Facebook and freely view all of your scandalous photographs and Wall postings?
Don’t say Ed Board didn’t warn you.
