It’s a given that teens are impulsive. Now that impulsivity might be showing up as “Facebook Remorse” – embarrassment over what they wrote in a hasty fit of rage, infatuation, or brashness. Call it a bad mark on your permanent Internet record.
Although kids use social networking sites for positive experiences, such as keeping in touch, making plans, finding new friends, and, of course, flirting, not all online experiences are happy. According to a recent poll, almost half of all teens surveyed said that they regretted what they wrote on their own profiles. The eMarketer report also said that 38 percent felt bad about some of the items that had appeared on their pages.
And that’s on a social utility tool that’s not in real-time. Just imagine the chagrin that can occur with an ill-timed or too-revealing micro-blog, such as Twitter, or a Friendfeed message. It might be easy to delete a Tweet, but the content is indexed for search engines nearly instantly, and who knows what has been captured for later use? Comments on blogs also often can’t be edited, except by the blog owner, another possible place for a “whoops, I can’t believe I said that!”
“Always assume that anything you say on an Internet forum, blog or messaging service is public and live,” says Allen Stern, an InformationWeek Digital Life blogger. He’s talking to sensible-minded adults (well, some of us, anyway), and tells the story of one hapless guy who moaned and groaned online about having to drive further to work, and confessed he didn’t shower before showing up at his cubicle. Employer, beware of googling this man’s name – you might find out more than you want to.
The old fashioned E-mail Remorse, the ugly cousin of Facebook Remorse, is of course, a very familiar player on this “oh, no! can I retrieve that comment?” stage. Who doesn’t have an email sin or horror story that can be posted in the virtual Hall of Shame?
The secret to healing all this net-etiquette shame?
“Think before you click,” say David Shipley and Will Schwalbe, the co-authors of “SEND: Why People E-mail So Badly and How to Do it Better.”
That might be easier said than done.
– Cindy Atoji is BodiMojo writer and editor and Boston-area mom who specializes in writing about health information technology and business. She also blogs for the Boston Globe.
For parents only: Some resources:
Parents, want a guide to text messaging?
Responsible text messaging tips
No Comments so far ↓
There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.