I’ll be honest, I’ve had a Myspace account since it first came on the scene. In fact, I distinctly remember my friend getting me to sign up for Friendster in 2002, a year BEFORE Myspace launched. Thing is, back then I wasn’t willing to paste my REAL name on a website.
However, at the urging of another friend, I recently joined Facebook, which I’ve been told is the “old people version of Myspace.” I like the concepts and love that I have access to my real life friends (their photos, their applications, etc) across the country 24/7. I have thoroughly enjoyed battling out several rounds of Word Twist on a daily basis with a friend who lives two hours away. And I LOVE that no one I know can view any damn thing about me, unless they’re part of my friends list.
With all of that being said, what’s the deal with really dumb teachers posting really unsavory topics on their profiles? I fell upon this blog today, which lead me to a fairly recent Washington Post article on the topic. Check it out,
Click “View Photos of Erin,” and you can see her lying on her back, eyes closed, with a bottle of Jose Cuervo tequila between her head and shoulder. Or click on her “summertime” photo album and see a close-up of two young men flashing serious-looking middle fingers.
“I know that employers will look at that page, and I need to be more careful,” said Webster, adding that other Prince William teachers have warned her about her page. “At the same time, my work and social lives are completely separate. I just feel they shouldn’t take it seriously. I am young. I just turned 22.”
My first thought was, well DUH, get out of your local network so people living in your area don’t have access to anything and everything you post! On further inspection, I started thinking; is it really fair for teachers to be considered the moral compass for the rest of the country? And aren’t these sites supposed to have age restrictions?
You Said It