Written In Ink

I’m usually pretty careful what I post on social media. That’s because it lives and stays on some obscure server in Taiwan, where it will outlive me.

That is a very good thing for all of us to understand….but it is imperative to share it with youngsters just getting their cyber-legs.

My 8-year-old grandson has a phone…knows how to navigate all of my technology complete with passwords. While I would advise against it, I have no doubt he will move on to social media in the not-to-distant future.

A news story out of the University of Connecticut last week should make all parents leery about unleashing their pre-teens and teens onto social technology. UConn says it is reviewing the social media posts of its incoming freshman class. They say they will consider revoking admission of incoming students that have posted racial remarks.

I certainly understand the university’s reluctance to accept a racist on campus. But I don’t know the rubric being used by the university.

A 13-year-old might make a mistake and share something that could be grounds for UConn to deny admittance. Down the road, the same thing could happen in an employment background check.

It reminds me of the quote from the movie “The Social Network” where a woman wronged by Facebook Creator Mark Zuckerberg said this:

“The internet is not written in pencil. It’s written in ink.”