If you’re reading this, chances are pretty good that you have an account on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr, Foursquare or some sort of social media platform. You probably post pictures, update your status, “check-in” at certain locations and play hours of mobile games connected to your social network.
Over the past several months, the National Security Agency — NSA — has found its way into the news. Numerous reports revealed the NSA is spending a vast majority of its time spying on average Americans and not focusing all of its energy on finding bad guys.
Americans have every right to be angry with the NSA and any other government agency intruding into our personal lives. It’s wrong, immoral, unnecessary and downright scary, but aren’t we being hypocritical if we voluntarily post information about ourselves on the Internet for all to see?
Yes, the NSA went far beyond any reasonable limit when they accessed emails and phone calls of average Americans, but that doesn’t mean we can’t call our own digital habits into question.
It’s not just college kids posting pictures of themselves wasted at a tailgate or teenagers sexting: People of all ages are finding out there are serious consequences for web-documented misbehaviors.
Consider this: Former Congressman — and current New York City mayoral candidate — Anthony Weiner saw his rising political career crash into the rocks, all because he enjoyed sending crotch shots to people over the Web.
When it was recently revealed that Weiner continued sharing lewd photos online after the derailment of his congressional career, his hopes of being mayor of New York City followed a similar path.
Even when you delete that incriminating picture or apply the strongest security measures on your web-based life, the information is still stored on a server somewhere. And whether it’s the NSA, a potential employer, the media or even your mom, someone has the potential to find out everything you never want publicly revealed.
Don’t believe me?
Consider Rutgers University students Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei, who in 2010 filmed Tyler Clementi — then Ravi’s closeted gay roommate — having sex. Ravi and Wei then posted the video online for all their friends to see. Horrified at the thought of being publicly “outed,” Clementi jumped off the George Washington Bridge to his death.
Clementi’s death raised awareness of cyberbullying and highlighted the effect our digital lives have on others. It’s heartbreaking that we must see news like the tragedy at Rutgers to demonstrate the spillover effect the Internet has on our real lives.
In no way am I saying we need to abandon our digital lives — or, for that matter, our real lives — and simply live as hermits, but we need to consider the repercussions of our actions.
We seldom consider the power we have on others through our online personas. It is our responsibility to clean up our act, and not just because the NSA or other government boogeymen are watching, but due to the overwhelming impact the Internet has on us and we over it.
Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms are great ways to share our lives, stay connected with friends and relatives and avoid writing that research paper — but remember the Internet and everything on it is permanent.
Joel Mendelson is a UF grad student in political campaigning. His column runs on Mondays. A version of this column ran on page 6 on 9/9/2013 under the headline "NSA spying offers chance to change habits"
