DIRECTIONS: Please read through this entire post, watch all the videos, and then leave a comment that acknowledges you've read and adds at least one important point/observation to this topic.
Blogging is a very public activity. Anything that gets posted on the internet stays there. Forever. Deleting a post simply removes it from the blog it was posted to. Copies of the post exist scattered all over the internet.
That is why we are being so careful to respect your privacy and use first names only. We do not use pictures of ourselves. If you really want a graphic image associated with your posting use an avatar -- a picture of something that represents you but IS NOT of you.
Placed throughout this post are videos that illustrate some of what I want you to think about. Watch them and use them when making your contribution in the comments at the end of this post.
Two teachers in the U.S.A. worked with their classes to come up with a list of guidelines for student bloggers. One of them, Bud Hunt, has these suggestions, among others:
- Students using blogs are expected to treat blogspaces as classroom spaces. Speech that is inappropriate for class is not appropriate for our blog. While we encourage you to engage in debate and conversation with other bloggers, we also expect that you will conduct yourself in a manner reflective of a representative of this school.
- Never EVER EVER give out or record personal information on our blog. Our blog exists as a public space on the Internet. Don’t share anything that you don’t want the world to know. For your safety, be careful what you say, too. Don’t give out your phone number or home address. This is particularly important to remember if you have a personal online journal or blog elsewhere.
- Again, your blog is a public space. And if you put it on the Internet, odds are really good that it will stay on the Internet. Always. That means ten years from now when you are looking for a job, it might be possible for an employer to discover some really hateful and immature things you said when you were younger and more prone to foolish things. Be sure that anything you write you are proud of. It can come back to haunt you if you don’t.
Another teacher, Steve Lazar, developed a set of guidelines in consultation with his students. You can read them here.
- Never link to something you haven’t read. While it isn’t your job to police the Internet, when you link to something, you should make sure it is something that you really want to be associated with. If a link contains material that might be creepy or make some people uncomfortable, you should probably try a different source.
Look over the guidelines and add the ones you like in the comments section below this post; either from Bud or one of Steve's students...or one of your own. Alternatively, you can add a thoughtful comment that adds to or reacts to some other part of this post.
Another internet rule I have been told is to never talk to nayone you don't know. Even if you think you know who you're talking to, there really is no way to know. This also includes showing your face to a stranger (picture sharing and/or video chatting) and giving any personal info away.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the messages being conveyed here on this link. But in reality, everyone will always talk about someone else behind their back. It's important to institute these messages to teenagers but it's also unreasonable to assume this kind of problem can simply be ended all together.
ReplyDeleteI agree with almost everything this post has to say BUT the video about the sexting is slightly off. Sure, it's safe to say you are the one at fault if you do end up sending sexual explict photos of yourself to someone but, at the same time, why would you even be dating someone that you don't trust sending the photos with.
ReplyDeleteThen, there's also the fact about spreading it around. That's just plain wrong. If I EVER received a text image of someone in a sexually explicit manner, I would never send it off to my friend. In the video, the "boyfriend" who got the picture shouldn't have showed all his friends. He's just as wrong as the girl for sending him the picture.
The "Think Before You Post" video is something every teenager with a MySpace/Facebook ought to watch. Teens can post some pretty inappropriate pictures of partying that can totally ruin their careers in the future. (Hint: If your mom wouldn't display this on the fireplace mantel, it's better you don't post it online.)
The bullet points are really key in order to just keep yourself safe from stranger danger. Ava's point is also relevant and should be added to the "big rules of the internet".
I agree with all of the points made in this post. The thing that is scary about the internet is that anything you publish can be found by anyone. I'm also careful about what I say when I go online or even sign up for websites. However, I think that it can be a valuable experience to meet new people online. Talking to people online on forums about topics that interest you is a way to learn and discuss things while talking to people from all over the world, and I think that it's fine as long as you don't give out any information.
ReplyDeleteThis information, the videos especially, are really eye-opening. You don't really think about how long the trail is and how even though you delete something, there are other scattered copies still on the Internet. A good piece of advice, which isn't necessarily a rule but still a good idea, is to have some sort of antivirus software that will alert you of suspicious websites and scan your computer for any "infected" files or downloads.
ReplyDeleteI agree with mostly everything said above. The fact is that teenagers will not stop talking behind peoples backs, even about best friends to other best friends, everyone is hurt by it, people will post pictures, even with knowing the consequences, and cyber bullying will continue. Although this doesn't have to be the case: there are laws being built around bullying and cyber bullying, slowly but surely those are being past. There are laws for child-pornography though that won;t help everyone and their pictures online, yet there are no laws gossiping except that does go into bullying and on that case, as stated above laws against that are creeping into the system, slowly but surely.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything said in this blog post. No one can be really trusted, especially on a blog post for public enjoyment. Giving information about yourself can be harmful to you and your career. People should be sure of who they are talking to before send anything or before posting something.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of the suggestions Bud Hunt said and I also really liked the video to really help show how fast it spreads. It is scary to think that there is so much about yourself on the internet so the one thing you can do is be careful and smart. Think before posting something and what you really want to share with the world even if you only think its one person. This should be shared with more people to get people aware.
ReplyDeleteThese videos have really allowed me to see more in depth to the consequences of putting everything into cyber space along with cyber-bullying. Agreeing with what Imo and Sara said, despite the fact that the consequences are clear, teens and young adults are still going to post inappropriate pictures and comments on to the internet.
ReplyDeleteThe video I found to be the most influential was the one about Digital Dossier. Watching that video informed me about many things I did not know about especially, the point about profiles and other internet based profiles are made for you before you even are born. Having watched the video, I am going to be more careful about the internet and what I put on it.
I agree with everything in this blog post. What you put on the internet is public, no matter what settings you change. If you do not want someone to see something, do not put it on the internet or give it to someone else. The choose what happens next video was very accurate and powerful in the sense that it could actually happen to anyone who followed the same choices.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything in this blog post, especially Bruna's comment about how in the video about sending sexual pictures of yourself, the boy is at fault just as much as the girl is. You should never send pornographic pictures of yourself to other people, because once you send them, they are out of your control and could end up anywhere, and you should also never send on pictures of anyone else. I also thought the video about the digital dossier was fascinating. I had never really thought about all the information about each individual person is on the internet permanently, either publicly or privately.
ReplyDeleteI probably agree with everything that's been said by my fellow chums at school posting here, not that I've really read any of what they have to say or anything. Anyway, this reminds me of the time when I had been accepted at Beaver, and it was the summer between my agonizing freshman year at Wellesley High School and the start of my freshman year at Beaver, and some mom with nothing better to do with her day but constantly check her child's Facebook account reported to my mom that I was swearing a lot in my statuses, which obviously concerned her, but not really. So basically what happened is that my mom told me that I have to stop swearing on Facebook because Beaver would see me using words which aren't actually hurting anybody except for in the twisted, psychologically messed up way which upper- society morons force down the throats of civilization, and ultimately not let me in. As if. But I did clean up my online language a bit after that, for a while at least...
ReplyDeleteAnd that janitor at the end of the first video was creepy as Hell.
I agree completely with everything in this post, the internet is dangerous and people just do not understand how so, with people being able to easily pretend they are someone else. Also the internet is permanent even if someone finds a way to remove something from the web everyone who saw it still saw it and all the copies of it are still out there.
ReplyDeleteAlso I agree with toast that Janitor was really creepy
The internet has from its beginning been something where people can face dangers. The fact that people lack so much discrepancy on the internet astonishes me. Social networking is a beautiful new concept, but with it comes a lot of various problems. As unlikely as it seems that something bad could happen to you from meeting somebody over the internet, it happens everyday. This doesn't mean people should fear the internet, but rather that people should be careful when they use it so they can be able to use it to its full potential.
ReplyDeleteDoes everyone know about the Way Back Machine?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.archive.org/web/web.php
It demonstrates the permanent nature of on-line posts. Essentially, anything that was ever on the Net can be called back, even if it is "deleted."
I feel as though it hapens to many times. Someone posts something online and then they regret what they posted and attempt to delete it. When I am online, I am one to revise before I post online. Although I can let my emotions get in the way sometimes, I think of myseld as one who is relatively calm and controlled on the internet. And for those who were here in 8th grade and saw my CSP presentation, I stated that people have to be careful about what they post online.
ReplyDeleteSee I agree with every video that was posted I know people who have sent pictures and I know people who post things that they shouldn't.things happen and not everything can be avoided. It will help if people are educated about the subject but in there minds alot of times they are thinking oh that wont happen to me.
ReplyDelete