Privacy, A Thing of the Past?
On April 3rd 2012, ABC News reported that a Michigan teacher named Kimberly Hester was disciplined because she did not provide her Facebook information to her boss. It started when a co-worker took a somewhat unprofessional yet humorous photo of the teacher, and posted it on Facebook. The taking of the photo and posting of the photo happened off of school property and after school hours. Hester was asked to come into the superintendent's office and was asked to show her Facebook profile. Hester refused to give them access especially since the school district refused to grant her representation from the union. A letter from the Lewis Cass Intermediate School District stated that since Hester didn't comply, the district "would assume the worst and act accordingly".
Privacy is unfortunately becoming a thing of the past. I do feel strongly though that we the users ultimately have control over it. When you own a social media page such as Facebook and Twitter, you represent yourself in everything you post, like, or share. If you post something, you should think of how it will affect you, your friends and family, and even your job. It may not be right for these companies to ask for access to someone's page, however, the user should understand the repercussions of what they post and share. As private as social media may seem, it isn't. The best thing you can do to protect yourself is be aware of your social media persona or don't use social media at all.
Just to put it into perspective of how much privacy you get on Social Media sites...
For class on 4/4/12