As The 'Net Turns

Posted Jul 18 at 6:38 PM

The internet holds so many different things. It's like a gigantic box that holds people's thoughts, secrets, words, emotions and, basically, their lives. It doesn't have a lock on it, however, so most of these delicious little tidbits can/do become common knowledge to the casual user.

It doesn't matter where you go. It doesn't matter which websites you visit on a regular, and non-regular, basis. Those things don't matter, because if you visit a site that has members, chances are you are going to become privy to the things happening in their lives. You become a "viewer".

It's like watching a soap opera. You flick channels (website hop). You stop for a moment to view (read statements/blogs/comments). You become sucked in and soon enough, you know people's personal business. More times than not, you wish that you didn't know such deep secrets. It can make a person feel like a peeping tom.

It's bothersome to me to see so many people online writing about the drama in their lives. "Mary" writes about her son pulling a gun on someone. "John" writes about people accusing him of being a pedophile. These are things that are probably better off not being made public. There are certain things, I believe, that should be kept to oneself.

As I've said before in here once .. what you write online stays online forever. There is no gigantic delete button that will take everything you've said or written and wipe it off the internet completely. Everything you do leaves a trail. Everything you say leaves behind evidence of its existence. It's something to think about.

The consequences of divulging all can affect a person's entire life. A person reading "John's" blog about his rumored pedophile tendencies can be taken entirely out of context and it can snowball into something he does not wish. It could, theoretically, ruin his entire life. It could force him to lose his job, his family and his friends. A person reading "Mary's" blog could, quite possibly, know her, and consequently, know her son. If this was not public knowledge before Mary blogged it, it would be after. It could forever change her life and that of her son's. Everything has consequences.

So before you write something highly personal, stop and think about it. Remember that hundreds of people will be reading it. Remember that it could come back and bite you in the ass -- maybe tomorrow, next year or ten years from now.

Hey, it's possible.

Stay tuned tomorrow for another episode of As the 'Net Turns...

This is slurpie.. signing off...