2008 Woodie Awards
Students might share too much on Web sites
By: Amy Swanson
Issue date: 3/9/06 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
Personal Web sites like Facebook and MySpace are growing rapidly in popularity thanks to America's youth. These sites allow users to connect with a large amount of people around the world. Users post personal information, pictures and anything else they choose to share in cyberspace. But these sites are posing greater risks their users may not be aware of.
Student profiles on Internet sites can be viewed by school officials, potential employees and online predators, which have sparked a new wave of legal battles.
In October 2005, Penn State University used Facebook to nab several suspects in a post-game riot following a football game against rival Ohio State University. The students had escaped the game without being caught by police, but posted pictures of themselves vandalizing school property on their Facebook profiles. The school used this evidence to prosecute the students.
Similarly, Webster University has the power to punish students for posting conduct described in the disciplinary policy on or off campus . According to the student handbook, "While off-campus, students are expected to uphold the policies of the Student Code of Conduct …Webster reserves the right to take actions that address the violations through educational intervention or sanctions."
Colette Cummings, associate dean of students, said Webster hasn't used student Internet blogs to punish students for illegal activities or student misconduct, but Webster is entitled to do so.
"It doesn't mean we pursue everything, but particularly if it embarrasses the school or damages the reputation of the university," Cummings said.
"I think (the policy) is right when you are representing the school," said senior Kaci Weber, a media communications major. "They want to make sure that the school is being represented as a positive school. They don't want people finding out that they have the kind of students coming here that do illegal things because that hurts their reputation and it's harder to get other kids to come to school here."
Online predators are also rampant on the Internet and regularly victimize young people through personal Web sites like these.
Last fall, a private high school in New Jersey informed students they would be suspended if they did not delete their personal Web sites on sites like Facebook or MySpace. The school claimed the measure was taken to protect students from online predators, according to an article at www.mtv.com.
"If they are looking out for the illegal things then I can understand that, but telling them they simply can't have those sites is wrong," said junior Jeff Gaeng, a computer science major. "It's just blogging, it's like telling them they can't write in a journal. So what if it's the Internet, it's still what you think."
Facebook can only be joined using an institution's e-mail with an .edu address. Users can only access another person's profile by sending a friend request, which allows the recipient to verify their relationship.
Facebook also offers different security settings allowing users to block specific people and block others from viewing specific information.
MySpace has a similar security measure, but users can log in multiple times under multiple names, unlike facebook, which can only use a personal school e-mail once.
"I put more personal info on Facebook because it's primarily a site of my peers, people I know and people I talk to, but I don't put that info on MySpace because anyone could see it," said junior John Lindmeier, a sociology major. "The problem with places like MySpace is its too easy for people to get whatever they want and fake whatever they want to get it."
Despite the security measures, students post contact information like addresses, phone numbers, e-mail and screen names on their profiles. Weber said she only posts this information because some of her friends may not know how to contact her.
"I've had people contact me before posing to be someone else so I'm pretty cautious when people message me online," Lindmeier said. "On MySpace it doesn't matter how many screen names you block with facebook it's harder to do because you can only use your one college email to access it."
Students should also be aware of their professional career being jeopardized due to their online postings. Employers are surfing the net to find any information they can about the character of potential employees. This potential damaging info is being dubbed "digital dirt" and can ruin a person's chances of getting hired.
Director of Career Services, O. Ray Angle, said he knows of a few cases at other schools where students were passed over for a job because of inappropriate material posted on their Facebook profiles. He also said that employers performing character checks online is becoming more common.
"I think you have to be savvy with anything you write in an e-mail, put on a Web site or put in the public domain because it may come back to bite you later," Angle said.
Angle warns students to use the internet wisely and "don't put anything on the web you wouldn't want your grandmother to see."
Weber said she is careful about the information she posts on MySpace because a greater amount of people are able to access these accounts.
"I see a lot of girls on MySpace putting up almost nude pictures of themselves and I don't think they think about other people seeing it besides the people that are on MySpace," Weber said. "They just want to attract as many guys as possible and get as much attention as possible whether it's negative or positive. And I don't think they think about who is actually going to see it whether it be future employers or parents or general people."
Student profiles on Internet sites can be viewed by school officials, potential employees and online predators, which have sparked a new wave of legal battles.
In October 2005, Penn State University used Facebook to nab several suspects in a post-game riot following a football game against rival Ohio State University. The students had escaped the game without being caught by police, but posted pictures of themselves vandalizing school property on their Facebook profiles. The school used this evidence to prosecute the students.
Similarly, Webster University has the power to punish students for posting conduct described in the disciplinary policy on or off campus . According to the student handbook, "While off-campus, students are expected to uphold the policies of the Student Code of Conduct …Webster reserves the right to take actions that address the violations through educational intervention or sanctions."
Colette Cummings, associate dean of students, said Webster hasn't used student Internet blogs to punish students for illegal activities or student misconduct, but Webster is entitled to do so.
"It doesn't mean we pursue everything, but particularly if it embarrasses the school or damages the reputation of the university," Cummings said.
"I think (the policy) is right when you are representing the school," said senior Kaci Weber, a media communications major. "They want to make sure that the school is being represented as a positive school. They don't want people finding out that they have the kind of students coming here that do illegal things because that hurts their reputation and it's harder to get other kids to come to school here."
Online predators are also rampant on the Internet and regularly victimize young people through personal Web sites like these.
Last fall, a private high school in New Jersey informed students they would be suspended if they did not delete their personal Web sites on sites like Facebook or MySpace. The school claimed the measure was taken to protect students from online predators, according to an article at www.mtv.com.
"If they are looking out for the illegal things then I can understand that, but telling them they simply can't have those sites is wrong," said junior Jeff Gaeng, a computer science major. "It's just blogging, it's like telling them they can't write in a journal. So what if it's the Internet, it's still what you think."
Facebook can only be joined using an institution's e-mail with an .edu address. Users can only access another person's profile by sending a friend request, which allows the recipient to verify their relationship.
Facebook also offers different security settings allowing users to block specific people and block others from viewing specific information.
MySpace has a similar security measure, but users can log in multiple times under multiple names, unlike facebook, which can only use a personal school e-mail once.
"I put more personal info on Facebook because it's primarily a site of my peers, people I know and people I talk to, but I don't put that info on MySpace because anyone could see it," said junior John Lindmeier, a sociology major. "The problem with places like MySpace is its too easy for people to get whatever they want and fake whatever they want to get it."
Despite the security measures, students post contact information like addresses, phone numbers, e-mail and screen names on their profiles. Weber said she only posts this information because some of her friends may not know how to contact her.
"I've had people contact me before posing to be someone else so I'm pretty cautious when people message me online," Lindmeier said. "On MySpace it doesn't matter how many screen names you block with facebook it's harder to do because you can only use your one college email to access it."
Students should also be aware of their professional career being jeopardized due to their online postings. Employers are surfing the net to find any information they can about the character of potential employees. This potential damaging info is being dubbed "digital dirt" and can ruin a person's chances of getting hired.
Director of Career Services, O. Ray Angle, said he knows of a few cases at other schools where students were passed over for a job because of inappropriate material posted on their Facebook profiles. He also said that employers performing character checks online is becoming more common.
"I think you have to be savvy with anything you write in an e-mail, put on a Web site or put in the public domain because it may come back to bite you later," Angle said.
Angle warns students to use the internet wisely and "don't put anything on the web you wouldn't want your grandmother to see."
Weber said she is careful about the information she posts on MySpace because a greater amount of people are able to access these accounts.
"I see a lot of girls on MySpace putting up almost nude pictures of themselves and I don't think they think about other people seeing it besides the people that are on MySpace," Weber said. "They just want to attract as many guys as possible and get as much attention as possible whether it's negative or positive. And I don't think they think about who is actually going to see it whether it be future employers or parents or general people."