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Should You Just Go Offline?
themulife.com — Social networking sites such as Myspace, Facebook, Orkut, Xanga, make it incredibly easy for you to not only keep in touch with your friends, but to share pictures and information with them, as well as other people. As appealing as this may sound, beware of what information you display on these sites, as the could cost you your future.
curtissthompson- 236 diggs
- digg it
- Tenlow, on 10/12/2007, -3/+67For those of us who don't have a promising future, it really doesn't matter.
- MikeMacMan, on 10/12/2007, -21/+2And what does that mean?
- digggroupie, on 10/12/2007, -4/+10All those of the current generation with full internet and myspace and no restrictions by good parents really don't have a promising future. Some have called them the throwaway generation. They have no self discipline or esteem online, and it shows in their limited social interaction in the real world.
- Spanca, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5There was an article about EXACTLY this - that hit the homepage - a whole 12 hours and 2 minutes before this one. Don't you submitters read digg??
http://digg.com/tech_news/Be_careful_what_you_write_online - zybch, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Of course they don't. They don't want to miss out on inflating their ego a bit and so often even add a "/?" at the end of a submitted URL so the filters won't flag it as a dupe.
- worthbak, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@ digggrouple
i believe that exact comment has been said about every generation of youth by their elders for quite some time now. the generation that fought WW2 was expected to do absolutely nothing with their lives, having been corrupted by 'newfangled' media and the like. you know what happened? we now call them the greatest generation.
- jugaaru, on 10/12/2007, -15/+4It was so much better when we were offline.
- meace1234, on 10/12/2007, -10/+0oops wrong reply
- nreynolds, on 10/12/2007, -3/+19How does one go offline?
- Celeron, on 10/12/2007, -4/+40By consuming a cyanide pill.
- tc811, on 10/12/2007, -13/+3digg Celeron for 24 reference
- m0laria, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1024 reference? sounded like a good idea to me regardless.
- meace1234, on 10/12/2007, -9/+2Does Win95 on a dial-up count?...as going offline...
- ageedoy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0wait... would that be the red pill or the blue pill?
- texpundit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14It's funny that this story came up because I was seriously considering sending all my old friends (which is the only reason I'm on those social networking sites) a permanent email address and pulling everything except my blog (non myspace) down.
- carapi, on 10/12/2007, -5/+37Nah..go one step furhter. No one wants to read your diary anyway.
- raindogmx, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2Is this a joke?
The guy writes that people who leave traces in social networks and blogs can get in trouble when that stuff gets out in the future and he just did it in a blog!!
-if i was to hire this guy and found out that post i could only try to figure out why is he so concerned about hiding his traces and personal information-
Also the guy who supports the story by submitting it to digg doing it well, in digg!!!
C'mon!!!
Digg for extra absurd. HAHAHA - xenixninja, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2@ carapi
Yes, because all blogs are personal diaries.
Digg is blog, and so is Slashdot.
- RichPowers, on 10/12/2007, -3/+40If you're stupid enough to write incriminating stuff on your blog, post embarrassing videos on MySpace, or use an unflattering photo for your display pic, then you're an idiot who probably runs into even more problems offline because of your total lack of common sense.
- kuribo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7It's not just what you post yourself, at least on some sites. The only one of these mentioned that I've used personally is Facebook (which I'm no longer on), so I can't speak for the others. My profile was pretty tame, but pictures that other people tagged with me in them were not always the best, and I wouldn't want an employer (or really most people) associating them with me. Nothing illegal or incriminating, just pictures of idiots doing stupid things, and me by chance standing there. Others might have me doing something goofy or strange, and be a great inside joke with my friends, but that doesn't mean everyone with an account has to see it. Sure, you can disassociate yourself with individual pictures, but it's still incredibly easy for other people to link you to anything.
In the end I killed my account, as everyone I kept in contact with through Facebook either a) I had enough contact with outside the site, or b) I didn't really know that well, and didn't talk to them anyway. (Also that new feature that recorded everything that everyone did, released a few months ago, I absolutely hated.) Maybe it's just me, but personally I don't need hundreds of "friends" that I know tangentially; if someone is worth keeping in contact with, I can be bothered to write down a phone number or email address or something.
- kuribo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7It's not just what you post yourself, at least on some sites. The only one of these mentioned that I've used personally is Facebook (which I'm no longer on), so I can't speak for the others. My profile was pretty tame, but pictures that other people tagged with me in them were not always the best, and I wouldn't want an employer (or really most people) associating them with me. Nothing illegal or incriminating, just pictures of idiots doing stupid things, and me by chance standing there. Others might have me doing something goofy or strange, and be a great inside joke with my friends, but that doesn't mean everyone with an account has to see it. Sure, you can disassociate yourself with individual pictures, but it's still incredibly easy for other people to link you to anything.
- Madh2orat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+33You can never really be unplugged from the matrix.
- chatdam, on 10/12/2007, -25/+1I never send real email on it.
http://www.siamaffiliate.com/- mcnugget, on 10/12/2007, -1/+19Bet you never SPAM either...
- SineNomen, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13The adage "Don't put anything in writing you don't want the world to see" goes double for the Internet.
Why people are just learning this is the real news here. - stev, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13This article, in one form or another, is a weekly thing on digg.
- Spanca, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Weekly? There was an article about EXACTLY this, that hit the homepage, no less than 12 hours before this one. Don't you submitters read digg??
http://digg.com/tech_news/Be_careful_what_you_write_online
- Spanca, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Weekly? There was an article about EXACTLY this, that hit the homepage, no less than 12 hours before this one. Don't you submitters read digg??
- bennyboy371, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16The example is hilarious.
If you put your address, phone number, nude pictures, pictures of you making drug filled brownies, and inviting random people to a party at an abandoned building... you deserve the cops and a stalker.
I know its just a hypothetical example, but its scary that there actually are people that stupid.- anon48654, on 11/15/2007, -5/+0You mean to say that honest people deserve to be treated worse than dishonest ones?
- ardenr, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8Here's a crazy question for the moderates out there... What if we didn't censor ourselves? I mean, when this guy recommends we prune PG-13 stuff from our blogs, isn't that just succumbing to the lowest common moral denominator? To put it differently, we all know that people say bad words, all the time: Just not in work. So why does that make me a worse computer engineer, or rocket scientist? It would become fairly obvious in an interview if we'd talk like that to customers, and I'm done bending over backwards for managers stupid ideas.
There's an enormous opportunity for freedom with the internet unprecedented by any other technological advancement since the printing press. What happened to the printing press? The Church and various governments censored any books it didn't like, and countless book burnings have occurred. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say book burning is bad. Don't burn your own Facebook. (That picture of you re-enacting a Madonna dance routine with Iraqis might be worth taking down though.)
Band together and be yourself ;-) I'd love to hear opinions on this.
BTW any determined person can get your phone number and address without the internet.- sishgupta, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I think your missing the point. Its not about bad talk on the internet, it is about evidence of bad behaviour posted on the internet. ie. dont post a photo on the internet of you doing drugs if you want to run for congress or be a CEO of a major company.
A lot of people do this, and its gonna screw them at some point. - MrSunshine, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3As much as it did for Clinton and Schwarzenegger...
- ardenr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5@sishgupta:
From point 1 of 3 - "avoid mention of display of alcohol or drug abuse, profanity, anything sexual or racist."
Point 3 - "Trim your profile as much as you can. Less information is good. Check frequently to see how people have been interacting with your profile and remove anything that’s not PG-13."
What I'm saying is that if everyone follows these rules, we end up with nothing but hypocrisy and false moral outrage, because these things (in moderation) do not affect your ability to do the job. Sure, don't make racist remarks if you want people to vote for you, but if you're a racist don't become a politician anyway.
Also, there are many drugs that would have no effect on your ability to be a CEO or a politician, in fact many CEOs and politicians take drugs so they can relax after their important, stressful job. They just don't talk about it. 100 years ago they could have talked all they like about the great weed they got from the jazz guy, and we can have that freedom again.
Don't make the mistake that this is all about drugs, this is about keeping moral outragists a minority on our internet.
Seriously though, thanks for the comment. This isn't a firm stance I have or anything, just an idea I want to throw out to get some more perspective.
@sunshine - exactly. So Clinton got a blowjob, it should never have been as big a deal. - undersky, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3not only i understand and agree with what you said, i wrote something very similar to that in an email to my friend who often took aback by my blunt blog entires and at the same time admired my courage to speak honestly.
On corruption:
http://www.xanga.com/chou/536142633/a-quick-post.html
On moral issue in regard to homosexuality:
http://www.xanga.com/chou/523915569/force-of-conformity.html - ardenr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2undersky - even if you weren't agreeing with me I'd have to say you're a good writer.
- "But if I am a man of controversy, if behind me are philosophies of controversial nature, I am doing justice to the God who created me."
Nice. And also important.
Yesterday you said I was too immature to post though. - ardenr, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Undersky, do two people use your account? I'm asking because you write a good blog, but then digg an article called "The danger of homosexual marriage" without commenting.. There's a discrepancy there.
You said I shouldn't be allowed to post on Digg for my comments on http://www.digg.com/political_opinion/America_A_Country_Ruled_by_Faith
when all I said was that when people learn about quantum physics they start to question their senses... I'm a bit confused, I must be missing something.
- sishgupta, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I think your missing the point. Its not about bad talk on the internet, it is about evidence of bad behaviour posted on the internet. ie. dont post a photo on the internet of you doing drugs if you want to run for congress or be a CEO of a major company.
- neuromuse, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0Not that I have this problem, but I'm one of those people who goes by their middle name in everyday life, and potential employers generally don't know this until I'm hired. So in other words...maybe you should use a nickname if your casual life is honestly that scandalous. The term "going offline" is just a bit too suicidally like my mother.
- erkokite, on 10/12/2007, -7/+2Nah, I don't value my future that much right now, so I honestly don't give a flying *****. It's true. I have a lot of info that paints me in a less than wonderful light online. I don't care. It's something funny that I can share with friends. Call me unwise or irresponsible, well I guess it's true. I hate the college that I'm at. And the career path that I've chosen seems a hell of a lot less interesting than it did initially. Sometimes building an identity someplace online, where you can share common memories with friends, even though they may be less than politically correct/legal is all you can do to stay sane. *****!
- Kypt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Thing is, in this thing here we call a life, you're not really stuck with what you once chose to do. Free will is for everyone, the only thing that is different from individual to individual is the power of said will. If your will is weak enough that you've given up about your "future" and "don't give a flying *****" about it, then I'm sorry for you. You've lived about 1/4th of your natural life and you've already sent the greater part of it to the trash.
Why don't we just strengthen up a little, make some choices and change that? - erkokite, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I've hardly sent the greater part of my life to the trash. I'm studying engineering at a fairly prestigious university, and the information on me online is not THAT bad. I've seen far far worse. I was merely making a point that sometimes it's fun to show off all the stupid things you've done. And when your best friends are over a thousand miles away, and you're bored and stressed that sometimes it helps to sit on Facebook and pretend you have a social life. Sometimes it's hard to see the future for the present. Guess I phrased it a tad too cynically and harshly.
- Kypt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Yah, sorry I misinterpreted it, to me it seemed that you were just giving up at everything because you hated school/life stuff. I don't really care about what I post online either, its all for fun and if a future employer were to see it the only thing he'd get is "hrmm that guy can smile" :P
- undersky, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Kypt 5:
That's what he sounded like to me too. I was about to say, "what a loser, grow up!" to him. You did nothing wrong, no need to apologize, but again, u were polite and nobler than I, so kudos for you.
- Kypt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Thing is, in this thing here we call a life, you're not really stuck with what you once chose to do. Free will is for everyone, the only thing that is different from individual to individual is the power of said will. If your will is weak enough that you've given up about your "future" and "don't give a flying *****" about it, then I'm sorry for you. You've lived about 1/4th of your natural life and you've already sent the greater part of it to the trash.
- Pyroteq, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6How the ***** do these ***** blogs written by nobodies make the front page of Digg? This is common sense.
Buried for being retarded.- moonwell, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2lol maybe once the others will understand why BLOGGERS THE ***** SCUM OF THE INTERNET. Net is screwed because of kinda weak pussies, but this can't change anymore. Why so many screw the 1/4 of their life with blogging? They won't spending their whole life with this "activity" possibly, but they leave the rotted ***** thought on the net.
So politically the answer for your question is too many ***** bloggers on the net and we just select them. u know with the blogger word an another word come into my mind, worthless.
- moonwell, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2lol maybe once the others will understand why BLOGGERS THE ***** SCUM OF THE INTERNET. Net is screwed because of kinda weak pussies, but this can't change anymore. Why so many screw the 1/4 of their life with blogging? They won't spending their whole life with this "activity" possibly, but they leave the rotted ***** thought on the net.
- BasouKazuma, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Similar articles have been posted to the front page. I say let the idiots get caught in their acts. Maybe then they'll learn that they shouldnt be ***** around so much.
- Sazzle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4The point this article makes about full name, address, and phone number is useless if you're self employed, especially if you work from home. Any smart self-employed person has a website showing their full name, address, and phone number so potential clients can get in touch and so that they present a professional image.
And of course if you have your own personal site too, you're going to want to link to your business site - your pride and joy and means of livelihood. Now you probably wont link from your business site to your personal site, but anyone interested in reading your life journey will be able to have a look at your business site and find your name, address, and phone number without breaking a sweat. So what to do? Re-join the daily employment grind and take your contact info off the Internet? Stop writing and sharing photos from your daily life? There really is no solution.
Do legitimate business people who happen to enjoy blogging, for instance, have to worry about stalkers and murders finding their contact details online and then being stalked at home or work? I'm thinking if you're sensible and you don't give any body a reason to stalk you, you're probably fine. So whats the deal with these articles trying to scare the ***** out of people enough to get them to conform to a PG-13 world? I would really appreciate it if these "how much is too much" lecturers would get a clue because, believe it or not, you can actually put your personal information online along with your business information and actually not be targeted by crazy people. Its all about how you handle yourself and your information. Blows your mind, doesn't it? - archer104, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I already anticipated all of this. My myspace is just a bunch of pictures of me in suits keeping an eye on the clock. My hobbies are thinking of ways to make my boss look good and calling the cops on stalkers...and then killing them but making it look like they fell on the hammer...repeatedly...
- ardenr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Don't laugh, things could end up that way. That said, I laughed pretty hard.
- SPLASTiK, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I find it interesting how the local news sometimes steals info off MySpace.
Tonight they had a report on two people in Anchorage who got in an argument at a party, then decided to drive to a supermarket and fire at eachother from their cars. One person died and the survivor posted pictures of his bullet wounds and X-Rays showing the bullets in his leg on his MySpace and they were showing the pics on the news haha.
I don't really put any personal info on my page, not any more than I'd tell some random person off the street or coworker about me. - h00ligan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1seems like a legit site lol
"in in ten (12%)"
hey wait, that's not one in ten. - adamsucks, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This topic is being beaten to death. I probably couldn't count on two hands how many times I've seen an article just like this on Digg and other news sites.
Yes. Posting personal information is potentially dangerous. We know. Stop reminding us.
It all boils down to common sense.
- If you don't want campus police busting your party in an abandoned building, don't post the info publicly.
- If you don't want your mom finding out about your bud brownies, don't take pictures, retard.
etc etc. I'm not going to bury this.. I'm just getting a little annoyed of seeing this same stuff over and over again. - bprice57, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0heck ya people should get off these sites if they are stupid, what i think is ***** is all the little kids with access to all these "tools" of the net. 13 or 14 yr old kids dont know what will screw their future. i think that what should happen is that these sites should just improve on watching the site for these types of activity and put some sort of disclaimer that ANYONE can view these sites, so at least people know
- nogoodreason, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Why does this article assume an employer learning about you from myspace will only gain *negative* opinions?
For those retards who 'speL lYk DiS', pose half-naked at a neck-breaking camera angle and list their interests as 'fit guys lol. n getin wasted lol. lol!;#"' I can fully understand an employer being repulsed - GOOD! But there is also a large community of presentable, intelligent myspace users whose profiles could easily serve as an extended CV; and may well *encourage* a potential employer to offer them the job.- msaleem, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Read the article first. FTA:
"Not all information you post online is bad. In fact, you can actually use your online profile to supplement who you actually are, your job application, thereby increasing your chances of getting a job, or making a better impression on someone."
- msaleem, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Read the article first. FTA:
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