I am fascinated with what people put on the Internet. The things people post on social sites,
documents and pictures they post are sometimes not appropriate. I often wonder “What were they thinking” I don’t
think people really think about the impact of what they put on the web when
they put it there. This is especially
true of younger children.
When talking about
the Internet and technology you must also keep in mind, what you put on there
is permanent. The information placed on
the Internet could be seen my millions of people years down the road. Information
placed on the web even if deleted may be cached somewhere and it is not really ever
erased. Let’s look at your personal computer and the
information held on there. When you delete the information on your
computer it is not really gone. It is
still imprinted on your hard drive. You can
recover this when if you have a special program to retrieve the data. There are special programs that shred
information on your computer when you delete it so it is permanent. There are a couple of different programs for
this. Boot and Nuke
is one of them and it is a free Open Source program. This program
will delete all files permanently so they can’t be recovered. Now think about the servers hard drive that hold
your information you placed on the Internet, do you think that they use this
kind of technology to delete your information?
Does anyone really think about
that? Now think about kids and young
adults, do you think they even think about this?
I think with all the technology being used by students today
they need to learn what they should and shouldn’t share on the Internet. What
people put on the Internet could be used against them if they put the wrong
thing on there. Employers and
Universities will look at online profiles to get information on the
applicants. Don Goble states, “College admissions and employers
do read your online profiles and they do make decisions based upon information
they find out about you online. In fact, colleges will make decisions based
upon many forms of questionable involvement.”
I think that we need to teach our children what happens with the information
they put online. We need to teach them
the consequences they may face if they put the wrong information on the web.
Who do you think should teach them? Should it be up to the teachers or the
parents?
Goble, D, 2012, 10 Things Your Students Should Know About
their Digital Footprint, Edreach.us
Kristin said, "Now think about the servers hard drive that hold your information you placed on the Internet, do you think that they use this kind of technology to delete your information? Does anyone really think about that? Now think about kids and young adults, do you think they even think about this?"
ReplyDeleteKristin,
Your questions got me really thinking! You are certainly correct about most people (including myself) not being aware that once their information is posted on the web, it will stay there perpetually even if they attempt to remove it or delete it. I was not aware about the Boot and Nuke program that is designed to delete data permanently from hard discs. I will certainly check it out. Thanks for the info :)
In addition, I have been shocked by how some people publicly publish their most personal information and family pictures on social media websites; so as you stated," I often wonder “What were they thinking”." I agree!!
Personally, I try to provide only the basic and essential info on these sites, but again I sometimes I think to myself that even my e-mail address should be "private" and should not be shared with the public on social media sites!
Thank you for your thought-provoking and informative post Kristin.
Regards;
Hasnaa
Hasnaa,
ReplyDeleteYou should definitely check out the program Boot and Nuke. There are a few different programs that will wipe your drive clean of the files. Boot and Nuke is only if you format your drive. Norton has a program that shred's the information you delete and this can be used per file. SO you don't have to format your disk. There is also a program called CCleaner (http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner) that is a really good program to clean your computer also not just shred your deleted files.
Hello Krisitin!
ReplyDeleteYour post really hit home for me. Quite often I see posts from distant family members, friends, and family friends on the internet that really make me question what they were thinking. Many employers nowadays require you to sign into your social networking accounts to show what you have on there. For many of the "kids" I know on this sites (high school, middle school, and younger), tend to post things that are not very appropriate. Whether it be a picture of them, someone else, or even just their language. Sadly these things start at such a young age and they are not aware that this could eventually come back in the future and bite them in the butt. People tend to post all these things on these sites as "private" thinking, "No one will ever see this", but if you post it, it really is NOT hidden from the world. People have ways of hacking your "private" information from a social networking site and manipulating you.
It is so important to teach our students the proper use of computers and the internet. I know I have made my fair share of mistakes over the years, because I "didn't know better". But I learned and hope I can teach others to be extremely cautious!
Thank you for your post, very well written!
Melanie Bray
I wrote a paper on how what you put on social networking sites follow you around. It also focused on what you place on them can come back to haunt you. There was a woman who posted pictures of her sons friends in the basement drinking. The police saw them and she was arrested for contributing to underage drinking. There was another one of a college student who was writing things about a teacher he didn't like and he was kicked out of the university.
DeleteI really think kids need to know what could happen when you post things on the Internet.