Be Careful What You Post ...

[Ulysses G.]

There has recently been some publicity about people being murdered, raped and assaulted directly as a result of contact made with people via the internet.

I have not hidden my identity - even though many posters object to my opinions and my politics. I have been threatened many times on the Internet over the years, but not one of these Internet Warriors has ever had the courage to come by and insult me to my face - even when I have invited them to drop by the shop. The truth is that most of these blowhards are nothing but social inadequates who are scared of their own shadow when off-line.

I have had the pleasure of seeing a few of them sitting alone scoffing up the free ribs at Thai Visa parties - where they had to wear a badge with their TV sign-in names - but I actually just felt sorry for them. Once I realized who these types are, it became clear why they have to hide on the Internet and bother other people to feel better about their own sad and lonely lives.

I am not saying that there are no dangerous nut cases out there, but they are few and far between. Most are of them are of the "bark is worse than the bite" variety.

[jazzbo]

For several years I lived in Oklahoma City -- the Gold Buckle of the Bible Belt -- where 19 out 20 persons I met had a different political and moral etc. persuasion from myself ... I learned how it is possible to be good friends and have good times with someone and still consider them -- and have them full-well realize you consider them -- a sanctimonious jerk.

[peter991]

[robblok]

It's not so much something that a lot of people need to worry about, it's just a matter of not posting something that comes around and bites you in the behind.

Don't post online that your boss is a complete asshol_e and your banging his wife. He might find out then. but that is common sense.

I think it is more than that actually.

Take Ian's photos for instance. They appear harmless enough, but lets say he wasn't 70. Let's say he was 22, and just graduating from university. He goes to apply for a job that he really wants. It is perfect for him, and it will launch his career. Turns out his prospective boss is a member of PETA and finds any use of guns against poor defenseless grizzly bears absolutely unforgivable.

Suddenly, Ian loses a job he really wanted because of a couple of pictures which should have been harmless. At 70, who cares, but at 22? It could kill your career. What if that grizzly loving boss turns out to be influential in your chosen field?

In the past of course, Ian may have had a chance to get the job and prove his worth before his boss found out about his proclivities to rend the testicles of wild animals. And at that point it would be difficult to fire him for his personal beliefs. Not so in this digital age.

There is no safe level of information to release to the web about yourself, unless you have truly reached a stage in your life where you are financially and socially secure. I would love to be more honest about who I am online. You can make alot of friends that way. But I am too young. I have too many decades left in my life when the stuff I say could come back to haunt me. I will still say it, but I will not take public ownership of it. And I won't attend meet and greets from online forums because I have seen too many times where pictures from those meet and greets eventually wind up back online with comments that allow someone to identify you.

I am not ashamed of what I say, but as that story pointed out if you read it, the results of allowing your personal life to become public can easily destroy your professional career, no matter how harmless they seem at the time.

The question is do you still want to work for someone who is so opposed to you. I did not like suits and as an accountant its hard not to wear them, so i looked till i found a good place to work.

So yes it could make your life harder but not impossible. I would not however post sex pictures of myself online they could be devastating. But most other things are ok.

There are also stories of people doing a lot of sports and the boss found out and canned them because he thought it was high risk.

So there are of course risks its just if you want to take them or not.

[zzaa09]

Social networking for the most part is moronic activity for people with too much time on their hands.

Eventually it will be uncool,

I believe this to so, as well. In fact, I'll up the anty to suggest that all electronic forms of communication will fall by the wayside. We'll return to shouting across the paddock and gathering as a collective. Real socialization.

[Thakkar]

There has recently been some publicity about people being murdered, raped and assaulted directly as a result of contact made with people via the internet.

I have not hidden my identity - even though many posters object to my opinions and my politics. I have been threatened many times on the Internet over the years, but not one of these Internet Warriors has ever had the courage to come by and insult me to my face - even when I have invited them to drop by the shop. The truth is that most of these blowhards are nothing but social inadequates who are scared of their own shadow when off-line.

I have had the pleasure of seeing a few of them sitting alone scoffing up the free ribs at Thai Visa parties - where they had to wear a badge with their TV sign-in names - but I actually just felt sorry for them. Once I realized who these types are, it became clear why they have to hide on the Internet and bother other people to feel better about their own sad and lonely lives.

I am not saying that there are no dangerous nut cases out there, but they are few and far between. Most are of them are of the "bark is worse than the bite" variety.

You are mostly right here, but it's really the ones quietly gathering info about you that one needs to worry about. It may not be a person. It could be a data-mining software. Eventually all the pieces will be put together and entire profiles created. Profiles of us that may be accurate or inaccurate, but ones we will not know about or have any control over. We cannot say how these will affect us. Gregb is spot on with his cautions.

I cannot go into details, but I know of an actual case where a clever conniving person quietly gathered data on someone, in bits and pieces, from various forums, strung it together then used the information to defraud the fellow. And this happened in the days of BBS, well before Google. Such activities are even easier now.

[Beetlejuice]

There has recently been some publicity about people being murdered, raped and assaulted directly as a result of contact made with people via the internet.

I have not hidden my identity - even though many posters object to my opinions and my politics. I have been threatened many times on the Internet over the years, but not one of these Internet Warriors has ever had the courage to come by and insult me to my face - even when I have invited them to drop by the shop. The truth is that most of these blowhards are nothing but social inadequates who are scared of their own shadow when off-line.

I have had the pleasure of seeing a few of them sitting alone scoffing up the free ribs at Thai Visa parties - where they had to wear a badge with their TV sign-in names - but I actually just felt sorry for them. Once I realized who these types are, it became clear why they have to hide on the Internet and bother other people to feel better about their own sad and lonely lives.

I am not saying that there are no dangerous nut cases out there, but they are few and far between. Most are of them are of the "bark is worse than the bite" variety.

After almost 200 years the UK census is going to be scrapped. This tells us something. It means that the information is already there stored in databases somewhere.

And Ulysses G, perhaps one day you will cross paths with that few and far between. Letting others know who you are and where you are on open forums is like playing a game of Russian roulette, especially if you have a reputation of being expressive. Who knows what sort of mental cases may take it personal and decide to pay you a visit at your shop one day with a loaded gun.

Putting yourself at risk like this on the Internet is not wise, not in today’s world with so many head banging cases lurking about out there. There is nothing cowardly about hiding behind a computer, it is stupid not to and also dumb to aire too much about yourself in the public domain.

[Ulysses G.]

There has recently been some publicity about people being murdered, raped and assaulted directly as a result of contact made with people via the internet.

I have not hidden my identity - even though many posters object to my opinions and my politics. I have been threatened many times on the Internet over the years, but not one of these Internet Warriors has ever had the courage to come by and insult me to my face - even when I have invited them to drop by the shop. The truth is that most of these blowhards are nothing but social inadequates who are scared of their own shadow when off-line.

I have had the pleasure of seeing a few of them sitting alone scoffing up the free ribs at Thai Visa parties - where they had to wear a badge with their TV sign-in names - but I actually just felt sorry for them. Once I realized who these types are, it became clear why they have to hide on the Internet and bother other people to feel better about their own sad and lonely lives.

I am not saying that there are no dangerous nut cases out there, but they are few and far between. Most are of them are of the "bark is worse than the bite" variety.

After almost 200 years the UK census is going to be scrapped. This tells us something. It means that the information is already there stored in databases somewhere.

And Ulysses G, perhaps one day you will cross paths with that few and far between. Letting others know who you are and where you are on open forums is like playing a game of Russian roulette, especially if you have a reputation of being expressive. Who knows what sort of mental cases may take it personal and decide to pay you a visit at your shop one day with a loaded gun.

Putting yourself at risk like this on the Internet is not wise, not in today's world with so many head banging cases lurking about out there. There is nothing cowardly about hiding behind a computer, it is stupid not to and also dumb to aire too much about yourself in the public domain.

You are probably right, but the world seems to be going to hel_l in a hand-basket anyway and whatever will be will be.

[jazzbo]

For several years I lived in Oklahoma City -- the Gold Buckle of the Bible Belt -- where 19 out 20 persons I met had a different political and moral etc. persuasion from myself ... I learned how it is possible to be good friends and have good times with someone and still consider them -- and have them full-well realize you consider them -- a sanctimonious jerk.

The flip-side of the above is that they thought that I was a nice person too, but one who would someday burn in hel_l.

See this one especially starting at 1:30 - 2:30:

Late Show - When Alec Baldwin Met Sarah Palin

http://www.youtube.c...5-Y&feature=fvw

Edited July 27, 2010 by jazzbo

[gregb]

And for anyone who thinks that they are truly anonymous on the Net, even when they try exceptionally hard not to reveal personal information, consider today's article from Wired:

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/07/exclusive-google-cia/

You may think that this will only be used for governments, but if Google is involved, it is highly likely that such information will be made available to companies or other private enterprises willing to pay a fee for a custom search. Using heuristics, language specialists can create realistic profiles of who might be the same person on different forums by viewing not only what is posted, but also the time that such information is posted and the writing style of the poster.

That means if you have ever revealed your true identity on any forum on the internet, it may be possible to eventually link those accounts you feel are anonymous back to you by examining what you write, patterns in the time of posts, and your particular style of writing.

Just be real careful out there. Celebrities are used to everything they do being in the public eye, and get well paid for that. For the rest of though, this is going to be a real challenge.

[IanForbes]

Ah, but just think how much fun you can have baiting all those potential serial killers.

[QED]

I use my real name on some sites, but it is sooo common it would take years to link anything to me.

My current employer admitted he did try Googling etc my name prior to interview, but couldn't come up with anything

[TAWP]

It is always wise to try to remain anon. One way to do it is to have several different usernames depending on area of topic.

I.e. do not share the same username on the church forum and the 'I go to Thailand and do these naughty things'-story forum...

Had some people ID me in other settings and try to make a stink. Most are however sad little people that never dare to show up in a face to face meeting.

[Huey]

What ever one things of how much they should reveal on the internet I respect that as a personal choice for them. Personally I can see it from both angles and I'm very careful about who I let in my facebook and even there I don't post so much.

But what really saddens me is that the people who always seem to get burned are the normal everyday, law abiding folks that just maybe made some bad decisions. The people who need to get shot in the face, like hackers and virus writers, NEVER get caught and I so wish there was a way to call these guys out, post THEIR pictures and addresses publicly for the world to see.