Maybe You Should Go Private

Lately, it seems like social media had been under a little bit of an attack. Between rioters in England and flash-mob-style robberies in the United States being organized through Facebook and Twitter, people are starting to question how useful some of these social media sites really are and whether or not officials should start to investigate ways to better monitor them. There is even talk of limiting the things you can do online. As a big free speech advocate I hope these (and all social media sites) are left alone because I really feel both provide valuable services and we shouldn't let a few bad people spoil it for the majority of law-abiding Internet users.

I give Facebook a lot of crap, but truthfully I will admit it has some real value. It can really come in handy if you want to know how someone you've lost contact with is doing without having to hear every little detail that has happened in their lives since the last time you saw them and you can do it on your own schedule. I'm sure if it had been around when I was working overnight shifts I would have found it very convenient. Meanwhile Twitter has become an actual source of news. This weekend, as I was tracking the storm surge from Irene I was really worried about how Swift's Beach was doing and whether or not it was under water. Well, there were no news crews in that area (around there, sure, but not actually there) so I did a quick Twitter searches for Tweets coming from around that area and I was able to find out that while the area didn't have power and there were some very strong winds, at least everyone was staying dry. So, really, Twitter was one of the better news sources I had during the storm. Those are the good sides.

The bad part come when people seem to forget that just anyone can look them up. While doing my area search, mixed in between people complaining about the lack of power and the Video Music Awards results (yeah, people actually still watch those), I saw one Tweet from a young lady reading, "Down at the canal, smoking blunts with [two other Twitter handles I have since forgotten]." How stupid is this girl? Does she not know that things put on the Internet are there for everyone to see? I get that people are very casual with marijuana laws, but it is still illegal. What if I had been a cop or some other person who feels vigilante justice is my calling? It's one thing to get caught committing a crime, it's completely another level of stupidity to call attention to yourself while you're doing it.

Every time an athlete is caught Tweeting or texting something they shouldn't to people they shouldn't be talking to in the first place, those self-help 'experts' are on TV saying things like, "Think about what you're about to do before you press send." Normally can't stand people who give unsolicited advice but in this case, I'll allow it. I don't think you have to be an athlete to appreciate that; I feel as though this is great advice, period. Especially when it is so easy to protect your Tweets and hide your Facebook. And if you're too stupid to realize that anyone could be seeing the private business you decided to make public, then you should be laying off the pot anyway, because clearly you don't have the brain cells to spare.