Who Needs Big Brother?

Your darkest secrets exposed

The stories told a future with Big Brother watching your every move, monitoring your whereabouts and who you are with 24 hours a day. That in itself was a scary thought to many people, and with the rise of CCTV cameras, it seemed like it would soon become a reality. Surprisingly, Big Brother has a new accomplice who is making his task easier. This new accomplice is …..

YOU!

Internet access is increasing for all ages and, along with forums, blogs, and social networking sites, computer users are putting more information about their lives into the public domain every day. Social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, and Bebo will know your age, location, friends, and family along with secrets that would traditionally only be written in a personal journal.

Look at me!

Often there will be pictures of friends tagging you, which may show you in an embarrassing position or drunk. There may even be images that, if your partner sees them, can cause you harm, destroying your trust or even your relationship.

Every day, the participants in these sites will post updates for all their contacts of everything they are doing, information about their political and religious views, even which famous TV star they are fans of. Your current relationship and what your peers think of you are in full view.

What the boss doesn’t know …

More employers are now conducting background checks on prospective employees, often using the information they find on the Internet as part of their selection process. Is there something on the Internet that can affect you? I recently received an email about an employee suffering from a hangover. Instead of going to work, she decided to take a day off sick. Foolishly, he put all that information on his Facebook, which another colleague happily forwarded to his boss. Fortunately, his boss saw the funny side. It might be the end of his job.

Become a secret agent.

Everyone loves to stay in touch with their friends and family, and social networking sites are becoming the popular way to do it.

  • Make sure to maximize the privacy settings on your accounts and if you need to send a message, use the private email system provided.
  • Be very careful what you write in public forums and make sure it is information that you would like everyone to see.
  • Remember that every time you join a group, event or fan club, everyone will know. Could you dissuade a future employer?
  • Before you put an embarrassing photo of a friend on the Internet, think twice! They may have an even more embarrassing one of you.

In the meantime, I’ll keep an eye on YOU on the Internet!

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