Facebook.com boasts of 7.5 million users from high school and universities.
Not a few of Kent's athletes put their personal info on line - how drunk as a skunk I got, how naked I get and where I go skinny dipping...
Kent athletic officials told them to take it off...their portfolio off of Facebook, that is.
The reasoning was that the students were giving the school a bad name...not to mention they were setting themselves up for failing a background check for future employment opportunities.
In the end, however, Kent backed off, and decided to ask the student-athletes to sign and abide by a code of expected behavior agreement.
Now, that makes sense.
Kids are, well, kids and they do stupid things. But, by the time they are 18 and up, it's pretty much too late to tell them what they can and cannot say/write and where or where not they can do it.
It might be stupid to tell people where you hang out, what your phone number is and when you like to take off your clothes. There are some crazy people in this world = stalkers and other nut cases.
But, instead of being told to shut up, why not use it as a teaching opportunity.
It seems good to me that Kent changed their mind.
What do you think?
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Hi Bill,
I'm from the UK, so I may not understand this correctly.
College students are aged 17-21? So they are adults in the eyes of the law, yes?
So they can do what on earth they like, providing they are prepared to take responsibility for it.
I do think that some people's social network profiles will come back and hit them in the face when they go for a job. "So I see from your MySpace profile that your main hobbies are 'getting drunk and cheap hoes'. Do you really think you're ready for investment banking?"
So...
Use an alias.
Don't post traceable information.
Use a disposable IM and email account.
Posted by: Ian Delaney | August 7, 2006 5:56 PM | Permalink to Comment