The Price of Social Networking

How much privacy do we really have online? There are currently millions of people all over the world using Facebook. Websites like Facebook and Myspace are very useful for staying in touch with friends and networking, but what is the price we pay to use these sites?

Andrea Payne, a public high school English teacher from Georgia, lost her job in August 2009 because of a picture she posted on her Facebook profile.

Payne took this picture while she was on a European vacation. Under this photo on her profile there was a caption including an inappropriate word. Payne's Facebook account was set to private and she thought only her friends and family could see the photos. An anonymous email was sent to the principle of her school complaining about the photo of Payne and the language she used in the caption. In a CBS news report Payne stated,

"I wouldn't use it [vulgar language] in a classroom, no," she said. "But Facebook is not the classroom. And it's not open to the students of my classroom. They are not supposed to see it. I have privacy in place so they don't see it."

Payne has hired an attorney and is currently battling in court with her previous employer to try to get her job back.

I think the lesson we can learn from this situation is to control the content on our social networking profiles. A useful blog post I found, "How to avoid getting fired by Facebook", offers several tips on how to monitor and control what information is available to others. The article suggests googling yourself often to see what the search results show. Also suggested is removing comments or pictures that you wouldn't feel comfortable sharing with your co-workers or employers.

As a member of Generation Y, also known as the Millennials (born in the 1980's or later), we are among the most tech savvy and connected group to enter the workforce yet. Most of us use social networking and have no qualms when it comes to posting pictures and sharing information with our peers online. Unfortunately though, as we enter the workforce we will have to start learning how to cut back on the amount of information we share. Andrea Payne is proof of what can happen to a Gen Y individual who uses social networking, our sharing of information and connecting with others can come at a great price.


Kate Shoaf
Communications & Spanish Major
Flagler College

China Uses Social Media to Find Missing Children

There are many uses for social media. Some common uses include networking with other business professionals and friends, crisis control, promoting products or events and conducting research. A new use for social media that China has taken advantage of is reuniting families.

According to an article on The Observer, around 190 children are abducted every day in China. If this were as huge a problem in the United States as it is in China, our government would be forced to recognize the problem and take steps to resolve it. Except no one in China is acknowledging it, especially the government.

The main reason for the government ignoring the issue is because of the root of the problem--the One Child Policy. Many of the abductions are of young boys. This is because boys are such a valuable necessity to carry on the family name and the ability to have as many children as a family wants is so restricted.

However, the citiziens of China have taken the problem into their own hands. Although blogs and social media are closely monitored by the government, families whose children have been taken are using micro blogs and the Chinese version of Twitter, Weibo, to get their children back.

According to an article on voanews.com , the use of social media has resulted in 6 children being returned to their families.

One father, Peng Gaofeng, was reunited with his son who was abducted three years ago. Gaofeng started a blog and posted pictures of his son on Weibo in hopes that someone, somewhere had seen him.

What seemed like a long shot for Gaofeng, resulted in an emotional reunion. His posts were seen by a journalist, Deng Fei, who re-posted the pictures to his 100,000 followers on Weibo. During the Chinese New Year, one of Fei's readers contacted him telling him he had seen the boy on the other side of the country. The police were contacted and Gaofeng and his son were reunited.

It is evident that the uses of social media are endlessly positive, and it will keep evolving as people find new needs to solve problems others may ignore.

By Lauren Ely

To view the reunion of Peng Gaofeng with his son go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uD6g8vaYHM.

Fashionable Social Media?

Although the luxury fashion industry has been notorious for being extremely uninvolved with the Internet phenomenon, it seems that the industry has finally jumped the gun and joined the 21st century with smart phone applications, social media involvement, and easy online purchases.

Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Burberry have all launched easy access smart phone applications which feed users with collection presentations, product information, branded themes, and the ability to share their “likes” on Facebook.

Some lower end brands now offer incentives to follow their company on Twitter or Facebook. It is not unusual to come across a tweet or wall post for a small 20% off coupon, or hourly exclusive sale. This is helpful to brands as they can more specifically evaluate exactly who their market is.

Unfortunately not all brands are on top of their social media networking game. Just yesterday Styleite reported that Marc Jacobs announced (ironically on their Twitter page) that they would be searching for someone to manage their social media accounts. Other luxury brands have yet to step onto the social media bandwagon. Gwen Stefani’s luxury label, L.A.M.B., which consists of clothing, shoes, fragrance, and handbags just recently launched an official website, however the company has yet to develop any sort of official social networking presence online.

It would certainly be beneficial for both brands and customers for brands to present themselves online in a (no pun intended) fashionable, timely manner.

-Ethan Reynolds
Communication Major

Flagler College