Fascinating and Disturbing

Pardon the stream of consciousness typing. There's just so much to think about and process...

I am endlessly fascinated (and sometimes) disturbed by what people choose to post online in very public or seemingly private forums.

Mike Wesch's lecture made me understand a little better why people are so open and inhibited when it the online world although I admit, I hadn't really considered narcissism as a factor. With his lecture in mind, my questions are: What impact does online behavior have on the future prospects (like acceptance in schools, job prospects, etc.)? and Do we ever really have control?

What impact does online behavior have on future prospects? This has become a new interest of mine. I currently work with NY Presbyterian Hospital -- primarily focusing on faculty development around education but I've also been pulled into other projects. The latest project is on e-professionalism. In February, a photo of a cadaver surfaced on FB. The person who posted the image, currently a resident, was a first year medical student at the time. Clearly this violates all kinds of patient privacy laws. At this point, I'm still not sure what happened to resident in question but in similar situation at another hospital, a resident and a few medical students were suspended. What happens when they return? What impact will this one action, lapse in judgment, have on their future careers in medicine?

This brings me to other question: Do we ever really control? I'm sure that those who posted the photos didn't think that it would get beyond their respective circle of FB "friends". With each of these social media sites, I feel a strong sense of false control. And it doesn't hit you that you don't have real control until your slightly inappropriate photos or comments have been shared with a whole new group because your friend "liked"  or "retweeted" your status update or photo. And let's not forget what other people are posting about you...Of course, when it comes to this kind of stuff, I feel quite conservative. Maybe it's because I'm older. Maybe it's because I work at Columbia....