I stumbled upon this article yesterday. At the time, when I saw the title, I thought here we go again, some moron posted some rant about their boss on FB, not remembering the boss was on the friends list.  How Facebook Ruined My Career is a pretty attractive title for getting your curiosity piqued. If the article is not there when you click on the title, the reporter was writing from experience. 

This got me to thinking about how dumb people can be to post things on their Facebook account when they KNOW who they have approved as friends. Bloggers at least have the rock to crawl under that we have no control over who reads our posts if we go public. I honestly try to control the mental flow that pours onto these web pages, but you know what? I have held it in all too long; at my age, it is time to throw caution to the wind. 

This blog is one thing, but what is posted here goes into my Facebook, Twitter, and Plaxo accounts automatically. All by my choice, but when someone sends me an e-mail quoting my crank of the day, I wonder "how did they know?" Duh! They read it on one of those accounts. These posts do not go out to the twenty-four other social or professional accounts people have requested that I "connect" with them. I connected with them and they have ignored me ever since. What is up with that?

Yet, the other side of this public emotional exfoliation, when I read the article referenced, I was horrified to learn that some places of employment can actually control your private, non-working hours. They can monitor your accounts and some IT companies can claim ownership of all of your intellectual properties 24/7. Alternatively, I read in the last few days that the State of New Jersey, my birthplace, has made it illegal for companies to monitor employees' private Internet usage. GO NJ!

My last observation for today is formed in a question that passes through my mind every so often. Now that we have so many "Social Networks", do we really keep in touch with that many people? It was a thrill to find some of my first cousins on Facebook, but I still don't hear from them. When I send a note, they respond to the point, no details. If we communicate in 140 characters or less are we really communicating? Anyone miss a good long chat?

 

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