When it comes to relationships being affected by social media, we tend to mostly think of our current relationships with friends, family and loved ones. However we kind of skip past the future generations who will be able to find so much about us online. As human beings we are more inclined to focus on our current successes rather than worrying about the future, and while we focus on the great changes that we have obtained from the past we forget to focus on the future which can be seen as a kind of myopia (BBC article).
Firstly there is the fact that future employers might look us up online and find negative information or information which may hinder our job applications. As mentioned in this article, there currently is no law on this topic, but it has aroused a series of debates about the hiring process not being neutral or equal if they look up the person online. Which is can be understandable as we all can make mistakes and move away from them, although if what they find is more recent and is showing something which is not what the brand would represent than it is can be more understandable. However, this obviously depends on what the employer finds. But this should make us aware to not publish information that can later on be turned against you.
In the book ‘Sharing Our Lives Online’, it mentions 3 characteristics of digital remembering: accessibility, durability and comprehensiveness. There are so many algorithms designed to prioritise search results. Such as Facebook’s ‘top stories’ which seems to pick up on which people you mainly talk to or view their profiles. And then there’s google, which can link your blog, emails, calendar, search engine and youtube channel into one. This happened to me fairly recently; I had booked a flight back to go back home for Christmas which left from Edinburgh. I booked the flights via RyanAir and got an email confirming this on my gmail account. A few weeks later I had googled Edinburgh and out of nowhere on the right hand size there was a small section reminding of my flight from Edinburgh and stating the date and time. Of course this was due to the fact that it was signed into my gmail but it is still scary to think how all that information is gathered into their system.
Firstly there is the fact that future employers might look us up online and find negative information or information which may hinder our job applications. As mentioned in this article, there currently is no law on this topic, but it has aroused a series of debates about the hiring process not being neutral or equal if they look up the person online. Which is can be understandable as we all can make mistakes and move away from them, although if what they find is more recent and is showing something which is not what the brand would represent than it is can be more understandable. However, this obviously depends on what the employer finds. But this should make us aware to not publish information that can later on be turned against you.
In the book ‘Sharing Our Lives Online’, it mentions 3 characteristics of digital remembering: accessibility, durability and comprehensiveness. There are so many algorithms designed to prioritise search results. Such as Facebook’s ‘top stories’ which seems to pick up on which people you mainly talk to or view their profiles. And then there’s google, which can link your blog, emails, calendar, search engine and youtube channel into one. This happened to me fairly recently; I had booked a flight back to go back home for Christmas which left from Edinburgh. I booked the flights via RyanAir and got an email confirming this on my gmail account. A few weeks later I had googled Edinburgh and out of nowhere on the right hand size there was a small section reminding of my flight from Edinburgh and stating the date and time. Of course this was due to the fact that it was signed into my gmail but it is still scary to think how all that information is gathered into their system.
This also brings me back to the future generations who will have access to this information. Think about our children ‘googling’ us and finding our Facebook pictures or our tweets. Right now as some may post about “getting home at 5am after getting smashed” or how they left coursework till the last day or whatever other embarrassing story happened to them. And in this moment of time we find it funny, but what about when we are much older and our kids find them after you tell them off for doing the exact same thing! Or taking the example of leaked celebrity nudes which end up online. Some may say that they don’t mind what their kids find, as they might have a more open relationship with them and be more expressive about their mistakes from the past. However there are some who are not currently thinking of this and this may have an impact on them in the future.
While I personally wouldn’t really mind future generations or employers finding information about me online, as I am ok with what I know is online, I also easily get caught up in “what are people thinking of me now” and have never really stopped to think about the future.
While I personally wouldn’t really mind future generations or employers finding information about me online, as I am ok with what I know is online, I also easily get caught up in “what are people thinking of me now” and have never really stopped to think about the future.
References and Sources Used:
BRAKE, D., 2014. Sharing Our Lives Online: Risks and Exposure in Social Media .
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140627-how-our-descendants-will-hate-us
FOUR NATIONS, (No Date Found). The Influence of Social Media in the Next Generation Society. http://fournations.wikidot.com/
BRAKE, D., 2014. Sharing Our Lives Online: Risks and Exposure in Social Media .
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140627-how-our-descendants-will-hate-us
FOUR NATIONS, (No Date Found). The Influence of Social Media in the Next Generation Society. http://fournations.wikidot.com/