It comes as no surprise that monitoring is and always will be a part of the social media world. College and high school students, as well as workers, are constantly being reminded to be vigilant about what they post on the web that might come back to haunt them during an interview for a potential job.
Some employees are mindful about what, if anything, should be posted about their day at work. Others let their opinions fly about their current or former bosses, co-workers, and even worse, the company’s name. And it’s not always positive news.
But we’re not addressing today the how-to of social media etiquette (i.e. smart moves). In fact, it is more about how social media host sites are now becoming the “hall” monitor, literally.
Several social media sites have transformed from passive watching to actually contacting the police, according to a report from Mashable. As explained, Facebook is now proactively using software to scrutinize information posted on its pages. It is unknown if the data is being stored or deleted, but it is being sifted through for information. If something “such as an exchange of personal information or vulgar language” is signaled, then the company’s security team gets involved to determine the next step.
Welcome to the new era of neighborhood watch on a digitized level.
Now, it does have that “big brother is watching” concern, but the company’s monitoring process does have an appealing proactive approach in our ever-changing, pioneering digital world. However, for every user on this social media site, one cannot claim to be shocked or be appalled about any privacy issues because this policy is actually outlined in the company’s Terms of Service.
So, weighing in on why tolerate Facebook sifting through personal information and knowing how that information is being used versus meaningful exchanges among family and friends – one has to say this may or may not be good news. It depends if they consider my aunt’s freshly baked homemade strawberry rhubarb pie is illegal.