Garrett's IST Blog

With the explosive popularity of social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace, some people seem to have an insatiable desire to post pictures of themselves participating in less-than-legal activities.

Ars Technica: Google + Facebook + Alcohol = Trouble

This article, I feel, is rather relevant, as it mentions a recent incident at Penn State. Following a victory over Ohio State, a number of students took it upon themselves to try and uproot the goalposts. They succeeded. The goalposts were then carried out of the stadium, and someone proceeded to create a Facebook group for all involved. The campus police then used photographic evidence found in this group to identify an additional number of perpetrators.

Among some other incidents involving students getting in trouble with authorities based on information found on Facebook, this article also offers the same advice we've heard so many times: "Be careful what you put online". Nothing new to see here.

GlobeandMail: The Hazards of Facebook's Social Experiment

This slightly more recent article from a Canadian news source tells of a more recent event involving a number of eighth-graders who were barred from attending a class trip following posting some derogatory comments regarding teachers on Facebook. (Just over a year ago, this wouldn't have even been possible, as Facebook was college-only at this time.) The article then goes on to detail the history of Facebook, finally commenting on Toronto being the largest geographically-associated network on Facebook.

While all these events are unfortunate, if people simply used more discretion when posting information online, particularly that which could be considered derogatory or inflammatory towards others, or potentially harmful to oneself, many of these incidents could be avoided. Consider anything you post online to be visible to the entire world. People will find what you write, and they will identify you. Be careful. Big Brother is watching.