But there are more things to be afraid of when you are active online aside from the astute employer. One of which is watching the negative feedback you give, or information you post, and realizing that you aren't as anonymous as you think.
Last week, a former model sued to obtain the information on a blogger who put out very negative and defamatory information about her online. The former model won. Several news sources produced up in arms pieces about the first amendment and how revealing the identity of a vitriol blogger threatens our fundamental rights. While I believe that there is nothing protecting anonymity in the first amendment, and furthermore if you are man/woman enough to say it, you should be man/woman enough to own up to it, this case should put a chill on anonymous hateful speech. Furthermore, this debate has been going on for much longer, and this outcome, in a day and age where employers google potential employees, was inevitable.
When I was 17 I began using internet forums to find out information, and I still do today. For example, I use Yahoo questions for research (to get a general consensus) or other similar sites. When I was accepted into law school, I was directed by someone I knew who was a law student to visit a forum dedicated to law students that is currently involved in a law suit after two students were attacked on the forum by name. I know of several other students who were also treated very cruelly on this forum. The two students who were named in numerous threads on this forum fought back, filing a law suit, and the identity of at least one of the individuals behind the most malicious comments was to be disclosed to the students.
I read the developing case with interest, especially when the it became apparent that the individuals who had used anonymity to attack these female law students would face some exposure. It became apparent that at least one of the individuals was living a dual life; his or her online identity was completely inconsistent with his or her real-life persona. The individual begged the judge not to reveal his/her identity on the grounds that it would literally ruin this person's life. They spoke of their family (as in mom and dad), and career aspirations. It was an odd juxtapose to the damage that this individuals comments had done to the two women suing to repair their image.
What it all comes down to is this: an individual needs to be as concerned about what he or she says online anonymously as he or she is about what is said openly. While an errant facebook comment may cost you an entry level position, vitriol posted anonymously about an innocent individual could cost you your career and forever limit your potential. Because comments posted anonymously are becoming part of one's online identity, such un-masked comments are part of a growing trend of online infamy.
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