usvi-on-line
My company has been trying to get everyone to set up a facebook page to use in the office. I don't understand why, and I don't want to. It's just as easy to pick up the phone or walk down the hall. What's the point of friending someone that sits two cubicles away? If you have something to say you can say it in person!
If I had kids on facebook I would want an account to keep track of what they were up to though.
I do worry that sometimes people don't think of the consequences of what they post online. Some people have this privacy expectation that just does not exist. Here is an example: at John's company, they sent a group of new hires to a training conference at a very nice hotel. One young man from the group posted a photo on his page--of him urinating off the balcony of the hotel. His employment was terminated.
If I had kids on facebook I would want an account to keep track of what they were up to though.
I do worry that sometimes people don't think of the consequences of what they post online. Some people have this privacy expectation that just does not exist. Here is an example: at John's company, they sent a group of new hires to a training conference at a very nice hotel. One young man from the group posted a photo on his page--of him urinating off the balcony of the hotel. His employment was terminated.
It's like looking in your soup and finding a whole different alphabet.
Liamsaunt makes a good point. My boss told me on Friday that she had signed up for MySpace to read another coworker's blog. She asked me to help her set up her account. I didn't even offer my info to her (I figure I am friends with a few coworkers and she will find me if she needs to), but I don't know that I want my supervisor to see all my private photos that are on there or know the last time I logged in (like when that time happens to be when I've got a case of writer's block...)
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Pete (Mr. Marcia)
- Posts: 1471
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 4:48 pm
- Location: Madison, Wisconsin
I find the concerns about privacy that are being raised by some here ironic. This forum is the "internet" just as much a FB. Yet, many here don't think twice about posting pictures of themselves, spouses and kids. Posts on this forum will come up in a google search, just like any other web page.
Wisconsin, smell the dairy air
I resisted facebook for the longest time and finally signed up less than a year ago ... much to my cutie pie 20 year old nephew's chagrin. He's yet to FRIEND ME! 
I found my college roommate who I'd completely lost touch with and a couple of close high school friends. Plus, I am able to keep track of a friend to recently moved to Dubai!
My only problem is people from HS keep trying to friend me and either 1) I didn't like them then why would I now, or 2) I can't for the life of me remember them. And my school only graduated 75 my senior year so I should not be having this problem!
It is really hysterical to me though to see how little some people change even almost 20 years later!
I found my college roommate who I'd completely lost touch with and a couple of close high school friends. Plus, I am able to keep track of a friend to recently moved to Dubai!
My only problem is people from HS keep trying to friend me and either 1) I didn't like them then why would I now, or 2) I can't for the life of me remember them. And my school only graduated 75 my senior year so I should not be having this problem!
It is really hysterical to me though to see how little some people change even almost 20 years later!
I agree with keeping an eye on the kiddos. Sorry, but I don't think anyone has a right to privacy until they are 18. Not from parents anyway. My parents invading my privacy "back in the day" saved me from ALL KINDS of trouble. I thank them today.
Case in point, my niece told me she was on MySpace. I went to check out her profile. First, it wasn't set to private. Second, she had provocative photos of herself and her friends, had where she lived and where she went to school, and had TONS of overtly sexual language that I didn't even think she KNEW. She is 13 and in the 8th grade. Her mom had taken the "it's nothing that I need to know" approach and still doesn't check that page. After having a long talk with her about content, I noticed her page was set to private and it was cleaned up completely. How do I know? She accepted a 14 year old boy as a "friend" that is actually her aunt Vicki keeping an eye on her. She doesn't know. I keep it that way. Invasion of privacy? Maybe. If it keeps her safe I don't care.
I do have profiles of my own on Facebook and MySpace. They are private and I don't accept anyone I don't already know. It's a great way to keep up with my friends and family - almost none of whom live anywhere near me. I think they can be fun and useful, even to grownups, used in the right way.
As for worrying about privacy, I am in a high profile public sector job where I get threatened at least once a week by a disgruntled former employee or applicant. I am required to have a panic button in my desk. It's that kind of job. Yet until July 2008, my home address and phone number were, by law, a matter of public record. Maybe I should be more cautious, but I guess for me there's just not much point in trying to hide it all.
Case in point, my niece told me she was on MySpace. I went to check out her profile. First, it wasn't set to private. Second, she had provocative photos of herself and her friends, had where she lived and where she went to school, and had TONS of overtly sexual language that I didn't even think she KNEW. She is 13 and in the 8th grade. Her mom had taken the "it's nothing that I need to know" approach and still doesn't check that page. After having a long talk with her about content, I noticed her page was set to private and it was cleaned up completely. How do I know? She accepted a 14 year old boy as a "friend" that is actually her aunt Vicki keeping an eye on her. She doesn't know. I keep it that way. Invasion of privacy? Maybe. If it keeps her safe I don't care.
I do have profiles of my own on Facebook and MySpace. They are private and I don't accept anyone I don't already know. It's a great way to keep up with my friends and family - almost none of whom live anywhere near me. I think they can be fun and useful, even to grownups, used in the right way.
As for worrying about privacy, I am in a high profile public sector job where I get threatened at least once a week by a disgruntled former employee or applicant. I am required to have a panic button in my desk. It's that kind of job. Yet until July 2008, my home address and phone number were, by law, a matter of public record. Maybe I should be more cautious, but I guess for me there's just not much point in trying to hide it all.
Last edited by AnyTing on Mon Sep 22, 2008 2:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
That is sort of what I am thinking - maybe these kinds of websites just shouldn't be used until you are 18? Maybe we need to come up with one explicitly for kids, where all the safe guards are built in and safety/privacy is "On" by default? (but then it wouldn't be cool and kids wouldn't want to use it...)VickiH wrote:I agree with keeping an eye on the kiddos. Sorry, but I don't think anyone has a right to privacy until they are 18.
Anthony for Virgin Islands On Line
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chicagoans
- Posts: 1586
- Joined: Thu Jan 18, 2007 2:51 pm
- Location: IL
I'll admit that I occassionally check my daughter's email. (Cue the outraged parents telling me I'm violating her privacy. OK, maybe. But I believe it's a protective measure.) She just turned 12, and had been emailing a girl that she met on vacation who is a year older and just seems more worldly than her. Since I don't know this girl's family or up bringing, I sometimes do a quick scan of those emails. The others I see in the in box are from girls I know, and since I've made an effort to know them and their parents, I don't feel the need to read those emails (unless there's something in the subject line that looks like a red flag. Hasn't happened yet.)
I'm sure my kids will get FB pages someday, or whatever the next iteration of it happens to be. Yes, I'll be checking. Kids grow up way too fast these days and are exposed to much more that is sexual or violent in nature than kids were just a decade ago, and parents need to keep an eye on what they're up to.
As for a 40-something like me, I get more LinkedIn invites but do get the occassional FB invite from business colleagues.
I'm sure my kids will get FB pages someday, or whatever the next iteration of it happens to be. Yes, I'll be checking. Kids grow up way too fast these days and are exposed to much more that is sexual or violent in nature than kids were just a decade ago, and parents need to keep an eye on what they're up to.
As for a 40-something like me, I get more LinkedIn invites but do get the occassional FB invite from business colleagues.
Pete, I agree and was thinking the same thing as I typed my post above. I would say the odds of someone deciding to stalk me or my family based on information learned on this forum are low, but the risk is always present.
VickiH, I know what you mean about young girls putting those types of pictures on MS and FB. When I worked at my daughter's school, there were several in her class who had MS accounts that weren't private and they posted the same type of stuff. For some reason, the junior high school girls seem more prone to doing that. Once they get to highschool, you see less of it. Many of them really lack good judgement where that is concerned. Predators know this so that's where they lurk. For all your neice knows, you (or anyone) could be a pedophile posing as a teenage boy. That's what makes it so scarey and why it's so important for parents to monitor their child's Internet usage.
VickiH, I know what you mean about young girls putting those types of pictures on MS and FB. When I worked at my daughter's school, there were several in her class who had MS accounts that weren't private and they posted the same type of stuff. For some reason, the junior high school girls seem more prone to doing that. Once they get to highschool, you see less of it. Many of them really lack good judgement where that is concerned. Predators know this so that's where they lurk. For all your neice knows, you (or anyone) could be a pedophile posing as a teenage boy. That's what makes it so scarey and why it's so important for parents to monitor their child's Internet usage.
When the end of the world comes, I want to be in Kentucky, because everything there happens 20 years after it happens anywhere else. – Mark Twain
Living two miles from the George H. W. Bush Center for Intelligence, we don't say anything online, on a telephone or verbally that we're not willing to have on the 6 o'clock news.
There are a lot of companies out there actively mining the Internet for content that they can turn into money. Check out Nielsen Buzzmetrics, one of the more public companies that is working on this. They acquired their tech from one of my old startups. Combining the terms "Internet Surveillance" and "Naive Bayes" is the start of a proven business plan for a technology company. Gee, what does Google do with their ads? The same tech, applied against products rather than people, created Shopzilla and Google Product Search.
Anything you say/show will be stored forever by people you don't know and used in ways you did not intend. If you don't like that idea, then turn off your computers, telephones and cable TV.
Cheers, RickG
There are a lot of companies out there actively mining the Internet for content that they can turn into money. Check out Nielsen Buzzmetrics, one of the more public companies that is working on this. They acquired their tech from one of my old startups. Combining the terms "Internet Surveillance" and "Naive Bayes" is the start of a proven business plan for a technology company. Gee, what does Google do with their ads? The same tech, applied against products rather than people, created Shopzilla and Google Product Search.
Anything you say/show will be stored forever by people you don't know and used in ways you did not intend. If you don't like that idea, then turn off your computers, telephones and cable TV.
Cheers, RickG
S/V Echoes - Coral Bay - St. John, VI
I know my last message comes across a bit as an aluminum foil headgear kind of statement. We stopped wearing aluminum foil helmets after reading this article:
http://people.csail.mit.edu/rahimi/helmet/
Cheers, RickG
http://people.csail.mit.edu/rahimi/helmet/
Cheers, RickG
S/V Echoes - Coral Bay - St. John, VI
My daughter and son have MySpaces. I used to sneak in and look at them. Then my daughter decided that I needed my own MySpace. When she was home after some surgery, she made me one. I had to edit some of it, but I pretty much left it the way she designed it. I have a disclaimer that says that my daughter has acces to my profile and password so I am not responsible for the content. 
Now I am friends with my kids so I can keep an eye on them and they know about it. I also have my sister on there and some friends and Bug too!
Now I am friends with my kids so I can keep an eye on them and they know about it. I also have my sister on there and some friends and Bug too!
You got it Sea-nile!! I've had a MS and FB for years. I have a 17 yr old daughter and the deal was, she gets one ~ I get onesea-nile wrote: I also have my sister on there and some friends and Bug too!
I don't belive children should have a right to privacy of this kind when they can not fathom the consequences of their actions. As far as they know, the world is only as big as the town they live in. They cannot understand evil thus they don't believe it's out there. It's my job as a parent, to protect them. If my child doesn't like it, tough crap. It's my job and I'm her parent not her friend.
With that said, I also understand that to a point there is no such thing as privacy. If someone REALLY wants to know something about me, they will get it whether I have a MySpace, Face Book, or I'm posting on here.
I try to just live my life, mind my own business, and hope everyone else does the same
XOXO
Bug