Today is a big day, although you might not hear much about it at all.  In my research to bring you information on the Social Media Credit Score series, I stumbled across a movement from the European Schoolnet called Safer Internet Day 2010.   This event, which has been held for several years now, was organized to “promote safer and more responsible use of online technology and mobile phones, especially amongst children and young people across the world.”  The topic for 2010 is Think B4 U post!

Although this movement was originated in Europe, and now encompasses 500 events in 60 countries all over the world, it doesn’t seem to have caught on in the US. I’m not sure why, but I know that this is something we definitely need to start teaching our children, teens and well…. everyone.  New technologies, like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, cell phone cameras, Flip video cameras, etc. have turned us all into publishers of information.  Thanks to these technologies, a photo or video can be taken, posted and shared to hundreds, even thousands of people, in minutes.  More recent technologies, like “tagging,” make it even easier to find and share photos of friends and family.

As we mentioned in our Social Media Credit Score articles, these photos and videos might remain posted for the duration of one’s life.  How will this media affect the life of a young man or woman as they attend college, search for a job/career, date, etc?  Could a photo or video, taken by a friend at a party, have an impact on a young man years later?  Just look at the lives of those who have already been affected, like Michael Phelps.  He lost the respect of others, endorsements, time, and millions of dollars because of one photo.

Tips

• Use the privacy settings offered by social networking services!

• Select friends online that you can trust!

• Publish your own photos after thinking carefully about the potential consequences!

• Don’t publish pictures of your friends without their permission!

Resources

Official Web Site of Safer Internet Day 2010

List of all events planned across the world (PDF) – sadly, there were no events in the US mentioned

Use this article, and the rest of the day, to make friends and family aware of this great movement.  Share the information on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace or in any other venue that you think it might be helpful.  Together, we can educate those who are not aware of the consequences of their actions.

Tags: Facebook, internet, photos, pictures, safe, Safer Internet Day 2010, video

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 at 9:05 am and is filed under Social Media Credit Score, Social Networking, Tips and Tricks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.