http://www.kendallschoenrock.com/blog/index.php/2006/07/14/self-incrimination-online/

Self-Incrimination Online

It’s easy to look back at college with a sense of nostalgia and to pine for the carefree days of our youth. It is more difficult, however, to realize at the time that your actions may follow you for much longer than you anticipate. There has been a lot of talk recently about how it is important for students to protect their online information from the prying eyes of potential employers. I’ve even come across an article that claims some organizations have gained access to more secure areas of facebook.com citing the Patriot Act. While all of the images on my facebook.com account are things I would share openly; many of them are from my mission trip to Peru, this started to make me think about other information that I’ve posted here. While this blog is updated on a very sporadic basis, I did start it many years ago and have actually back logged a few random journal entries. Upon further review, there is content here that mentions activities, and friends full names, that could potentially portray them in an unprofessional manner. While it is hopefully reasonable to assume that my meager postings probably wouldn’t negatively affect anyone that I’ve previously posted about, I do believe that it is unfair of me to include them in this weblog.So as of this post, I am re-editing my previous posts to remove any information that I believe could be harmful to my own or others online reputation. I can only hope that those who also participate in such online activity will realize that the web does not easily forget. And those pictures of you dancing on the bar may not be as funny when people are making snap judgments. I would also ask those potential employers to base their decisions on the merit of the candidates and to remember that they probably did things in college that they wouldn’t want to talk about either. I’m sure they will argue they weren’t dumb enough to post it online and I would say that is a pretty fair point. In any case, I hope you enjoy my blog and will forgive me of any of my actions in college if and when I ever run for political office.

Cheers,

Kendall