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With Delta Milayo Ndou
NOTHING underscores the prudence of pondering our online activity than the fact that we now live in a time where you have the right to log on but anything you post, share and respond to can and will be used against you offline.
In more and more real life contexts, social media activity is becoming a vetting mechanism used to screen individuals for opportunities ranging from employment, scholarly funding and even the right to be admitted into other countries.
The real life impact of online conduct is a clear indication that our actions in whatever context, whether online or offline — do carry consequences.
Incidents of individuals losing their jobs over social media posts are rampant and last month a South African court fined a white estate agent the equivalent of US$10 000 for likening black beach-goers to monkeys in a Facebook post.
This ruling lends weight to the admissibility of social media evidence within the court system — which has been an ongoing debate.
The more recent development around social media posts being regarded as legitimate evidence is the pronouncement that the United States of America’s Department of Homeland Security will start requesting foreign visitors to provide details of their social media accounts to “enhance the existing investigative process”.
The fact that a person’s social media activity is given such weighty consideration by recruiters, by funders and by governments says a lot in terms of the “realness” of these platforms.
The tendency has been for people to log on thinking they are entering a different realm or dimension of existence where their actions are confined to the online space and are unrelated to their realities offline.
But who you are online is increasingly becoming what defines you offline.
The tendency of thinking of online interactions in abstract terms has often resulted in conduct unbecoming of decent beings.
Perhaps we should reflect more on what our social media posts could cost us — now and in future.
What opportunities might we lose, what penalties might be visited upon us and what freedoms might be taken away from us on the basis of our digital footprint.
It is not just “social media”
Perhaps what needs to be borne in mind whenever one chooses to go online is the fact that their online conduct will be used to judge them and that the disclaimer of “its just social media” will be an insufficient defence”.
While it is true that some people go online to escape and others go online to keep up appearances by pretending to be far happier than they truly are — these deceptive self-portrayals rarely harm anyone.
It is those self-portrayals of negative traits that tend to have consequences that spill into someone’s “real” life — consequences like marital breakdown occasioned by online romance.
Sometimes social media posts paint a picture of the individual who is posting and over time, people familiar with your posts can create a portrait of who they think you are.
Savvy recruiters are unapologetic about “googling” applicants and tracking their digital footprints to come up with a profile of who those people are.
From seemingly innocuous choices such as what Facebook pages one likes or what Facebook groups one chooses to join — recruiters trawl through social media activity to assess the caliber of the applicants they have attracted.
One should reflect deeply about the perception they create with their social media activity.
What impression does it create of you when you join hate groups on social media or participate in unsavoury Facebook pages or share hashtags that promote hate or bigotry?
There is a lot to lose when we don’t reflect on our online conduct and its potential impact on our lives when we have logged off.
Last week, I mentioned the effects of disinhibition and how all caution is thrown to the wind once people get online and give in to the temptation of excessive self-disclosure.
Where does your digital footprint lead?
If someone was stalking you on the Internet, how much information could they learn about you and how long would it take them to acquire that information?
Will they find out where you went for pre-school, or know what route you take on your way to church? Will they know how many siblings you have or get any idea of who your work colleagues are?
Will they easily discover your age based on details of where and when you were born? Would they be able to say what hospital you gave birth in or where you spent your weekend? How much of your life is online, how much of your life is within easy reach of those who may be stalking you? Whether the stalking is part of a screening process to ascertain whether you are deserving of certain opportunities or the stalking is idle curiosity or driven by ill intentions – you need to know that your digital footprint can leave you seriously exposed. Be prudent about what you post and also about what others choose to tag you in. You really don’t need to be tagged in photos of your friends where you drunk as a skunk – and proper friends should have the wisdom to not post such unflattering images in the first place. I remember cautioning female MPs during a training session on the need to be vigilant about the images they use for any platform as these can be used against them. Even WhatsApp profile pictures have been harvested in the past and pasted all over the local tabloids — nothing is ‘sacred’ or private once placed on a public platform. There is no reasonable expectation of privacy for those who wantonly splash details of their lives online and there is nothing to excuse those who conduct themselves in questionable ways online thinking it is “just social media”.
We can now point to examples that it is not ‘just social media’ and that one can be held accountable for what they do and say online. Whoever you are offline, try to be that person online – because those who search for and track your digital footprints are no longer making that distinction.
- Delta is Head of Digital at Zimpapers and a PhD scholar researching on digital media, disruptive technologies and journalistic practice. Follow her on Twitter: @deltandou
Online Reporter