College Sorority Rant: Digital Age Bullying Goes Viral, It seems the media, social media, and the Internet community has turned yet another seemingly un-newsworthy event into prime time news. A young college girl belonging to a sorority sent an email rant containing “highly inappropriate and unacceptable” language. (See Note 1). This email was then posted online.
In no time word spread and the email went viral and was thrust into the spotlight for the world to see. The young woman later “resigned” from the sorority due to the negative publicity. (See Note 1). This young woman probably never stopped to think that her one lone email would get her into so much trouble. And this naïve view is exactly what got her in so much trouble in the first place.
We live in a society where everything you say and do can be used against you. This is magnified by the fact that the world we live in favors recording our everyday movements. We are recorded in public every minute of every day whether it is private security cameras or recording devices or state or local government devices.
Walk down the street and you are being recorded. Drive to work or school and you are recorded. Walk through a hotel or even your own apartment complex and you are recorded. Heck, you can be recorded by people you know or even a complete stranger and have that image posted on the Internet for all too view.
We live in an age where we are recorded at every turn. Be it security, public safety, gawkers, or Big Brother, it seems these recordings often resurface on the Internet for the entire world to see. With a click of a button on a smart phone or computer, a video or image can be uploaded to the Internet.
These postings can be used to bully other people, become the butt of jokes, or even become damaging evidence in criminal cases. (See Note 2). How many times have you visited a website to find links to the latest dumb criminal footage, letters or emails that have gone viral, or even receipts showing how stingy people are at tipping at restaurants.
This information is definitely not news but it sure gets views and the public’s attention. So it should come as no surprise that an email, a document finalized in a written format clearly viewable and readable by all, would be forwarded and find its way into the view of the public on the Internet.
Should ranting emails like this be sent? No. The content was inappropriate and vulgar. However, people should also have common sense. Everything you say and do can be used against you. An email is no different.
This young woman now must pay for her indiscretion and the fallout that comes with it; fallout that could have been easily avoided by simply not having hit the send button in the first place. People should think before they post. No better advice can ever be given for navigating the digital age we live in today.
In no time word spread and the email went viral and was thrust into the spotlight for the world to see. The young woman later “resigned” from the sorority due to the negative publicity. (See Note 1). This young woman probably never stopped to think that her one lone email would get her into so much trouble. And this naïve view is exactly what got her in so much trouble in the first place.
We live in a society where everything you say and do can be used against you. This is magnified by the fact that the world we live in favors recording our everyday movements. We are recorded in public every minute of every day whether it is private security cameras or recording devices or state or local government devices.
Walk down the street and you are being recorded. Drive to work or school and you are recorded. Walk through a hotel or even your own apartment complex and you are recorded. Heck, you can be recorded by people you know or even a complete stranger and have that image posted on the Internet for all too view.
We live in an age where we are recorded at every turn. Be it security, public safety, gawkers, or Big Brother, it seems these recordings often resurface on the Internet for the entire world to see. With a click of a button on a smart phone or computer, a video or image can be uploaded to the Internet.
These postings can be used to bully other people, become the butt of jokes, or even become damaging evidence in criminal cases. (See Note 2). How many times have you visited a website to find links to the latest dumb criminal footage, letters or emails that have gone viral, or even receipts showing how stingy people are at tipping at restaurants.
This information is definitely not news but it sure gets views and the public’s attention. So it should come as no surprise that an email, a document finalized in a written format clearly viewable and readable by all, would be forwarded and find its way into the view of the public on the Internet.
Should ranting emails like this be sent? No. The content was inappropriate and vulgar. However, people should also have common sense. Everything you say and do can be used against you. An email is no different.
This young woman now must pay for her indiscretion and the fallout that comes with it; fallout that could have been easily avoided by simply not having hit the send button in the first place. People should think before they post. No better advice can ever be given for navigating the digital age we live in today.
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