Thoughts from the Radio

Random bits of Radio-burping...with of course my commentary because I am completely incapable of just reporting without putting my comments in.

An Anderson police officer was relieved of duty when the contents of his MySpace account were forwarded to the police chief. Apparently they contained racist, sexist, and generally offensive commentary. He said he doesn't even like that kind of humor and it was supposed to be a place for his friends to joke around.

You know, I'd like to think they canned him for being stupid, and not necessarily for the actual comments on his MySpace page. I mean, really, does anyone that has an IQ greater than room temperature think that the stuff you post on the 'net - especially stuff on a site that is advertised as a "social networking site" - is going to stay private? Hello, stupid, don't post anything you wouldn't put up on the bulletin board at work!

In a similar vein, a mayor was removed from office when the city she serves discovered "titillating photos" (evidently shots of her in her underwear) on the 'net. She'd had them done a few years before she even ran for mayor for some publicity stunt, or a fundraiser calendar, or an awareness event...something. It doesn't matter - anyway, apparently a relative put the photos on HER MySpace account to "improve {the mayor's} social life."

Okay, there aren't enough DUH in the world for this one. And a heapin' helpin' of "MYOB", too. For crying out loud, people! Mind Your Own Bidness - if she wanted to "improve her social life", I'm pretty sure she's over 18 and can therefore figure out how to do it herself! Betcha that relative is feeling pretty stupid right about now. Again - if you wouldn't say it in person, and you wouldn't want it attributed to you by the people you know and work with, don't put it on the 'net. You lose all control over the contents of your 'net-postings as soon as you hit "submit". I have no idea who's reading this at any given time, given that the accessibility of it is set to "public", and even if it was set "private" there'd be nothing preventing any of my friends-with-access from copying something I wrote, pasting it into an email and sending it off to the world.

If you don't want everyone in the world to know what you said...don't say it at all. The 'net is a public place, regardless of the fact that it's accessible from your bedroom. Treat it like you would any other public place. Don't assume that nobody's going to see your posts except you "and your friends", don't assume that your posts, your pictures, your pages are ONLY going to be seen by the people YOU want to see them. Assume that they'll be seen by every single person in the world, and then decide if you want to actually reveal that part of yourself.

Think before posting before thinking.