re Facebook and who might be looking at posts, xkcd did a comic on that

[link]

Not quite relevant to posting stupid excesses, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

I don't know. From what I see the teens in my life share...I just don't know. It is mutable. And these kids have different expectations of what privacy and exposure is. You probably know better than my tiny sample, but I am also not a teacher in my exposure.

It doesn't bother me as much. Were I an employer, I'd be all "ok that was when they were 16." But, especially in the academic fields, I don't know this is the case. And really, how do you filter that out? Even if you are social media savvy? It still leaves an impression.

It sounds like you have the stats to back that up, and I'm not disagreeing.

I'm just saying that kids and teens need to be more aware and educated in general on the longevity of the things they or their friends post or write about them on-line.

Especially in middle and high school, when one day, someone is your best friend and on Monday s/he's dogging you to the whole school.

Skippy skimming to say thanks for the birthday wishes! 'Twas a lovely day.

I don't know that most employers care enough to really search. There's not enough data on who DOESN'T get jobs based on their social networking info. I say that because I spent a few days trying to research it to give info to my students.

The employment-related data instead, is around people who have LOST a job based on what they posted. For example University of Colorado's diversity director was fired for a blog post about how women are dumber than men.

But it's almost impossible to find any tangible info about people who have lost opportunities based on Facebook.

Well, here's the thing: I see tons of postings from people declaring him innocent. Aside from eyewitness testimony, the shell casings were from a gun he used to shoot another person earlier in the night, and he was convicted of that shooting. He may have killed the officer. There is, I think, enough reasonable doubt, and not enough evidence to put him to death.

If you were a relative of the slain police officer and believed that Troy Davis was guilty, how would you feel if the county attorney had not fought for the conviction?

As the aunt of the little boy who was groped in a Market Basket bathroom, I'd like to gut the dude who did it. Fortunately, I'm not in charge of these things. What I believe justice is when it's one of my own isn't necessarily sane or rational. I don't think my country should execute people. Not even the worst people. It's just not fucking civilized. And I like civilization.

What the family believes could be wrong. What the family believes isn't what attorney should be fighting for. It should be justice, right?

Oh yeah, my kids' pages are a mess. I get all guns and drugs and gang stuff, or all promiscuity and pregnancy and babies stuff. But honestly, none of them are going to college. Maaaybe it'll affect job stuff, but it's doubtful. Half their potential employers don't have internet access.

Mostly its function is to confirm what I already knew was going on with them, so, while heartbreaking, it's not surprising. I do intervene periodically, but with about the same frequency that I do in real life, which is to say, only when violence to self or others is implicitly threatened.

If my donors ever took the time to page through my responses, they would probably plotz.

My binge drinking and sleeping around occurred in college for me, too. It was not, however, advertised on social media.

I don't know that most employers care enough to really search.

Yeah, I doubt college admissions officials are spending too much time doing outside research either. If anything, they're overwhelmed by application materials as it is. Do they need further evidence that kids act dumb?

I think my high school years were your college years, re: sleeping around and LOOK AT HOW SEXUALLY NOT REPRESSED I AM WOOHOO. One of my classmates had three children by graduation.