The internet has often been referred to an an enabling technology. Here at daily kos, we have seen the power that internet based communities can bring to bear on such things as social problems, politics and even economics. But beware the new puritanism.
Are we entering into an age of "digital puritanism?" The phrase pops up in a story about Stacy Snyder, a young student who claims to have been denied the college degreefor which she evidently qualifies because of a photo on her myspace page that shows her drinking alcohol.
According to the AP article:
The photo was a head shot of Snyder wearing a too-small pirate hat and drinking from a plastic cup emblazoned with the Hershey "Mr. Goodbar" logo. The caption of the photo read "drunken pirate."
The school claims the student "promoted underage drinking." The kicker is that she is in her mid-20's; and thus may legally enjoy a beer every now and then. Now, the school, Millersville University in Pennsylvania, isn't completely disregarding her academic achievements. It is presenting her with a BA in English. The problem with that is that without a degree in Education, she won't be able to get her Teaching license.
The Center for Digital Democracy has weighed in:
Jeff Chester, the founder and executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, said that the case highlights the dangers of blending our real and virtual lives.
"I think a new digital puritanism is arising," Chester said. "A case like this highlights the need to develop a whole new standard of ethics, since even a relatively innocent remark or situation online can backfire and ruin someone's entire career."
Ms. Snyder has filed a lawsuit. The school has issued a general denial, but has not released their side of the story "due to federal student privacy concerns."
This is only the newest of a number of tales in which people have been punished for percieved "virtual sins," if one can call them that (or in some cases, real "sins" virtually recorded for posterity. Sometimes, the online hijinks may justify castigation. Take the case where students in Canada were banned from a school trip because of inappropriate comments they made concerning a teacher:
But a few weeks ago the school found out about the comments, and Bram and four of his friends, who participated in the discussion, were told they wouldn't be joining their classmates on a highly-anticipated graduation field trip to Montreal.
"I intended for my friends to see it, if I had known others (would read it), I would not have written it," Bram notes, admitting his comments were out of line.
"I wrote that she once rubbed herself in back of the class," he adds sheepishly
Although the kid's father had a problem with the process used for punishment, it seems to me from these facts that the punishment isn't too harsh. It's not like they denied the kid the opportunity to graduate.
There is the case of Gabriel McDonald, who lost a job and his dorm room when a friend posted pictures of revelry at a New Years Eve party (McDonald was 20, and the pictures evidently showed that he was drinking.).
From that article:
"As you go through college and you start applying for internships, or jobs when you graduate, some employers and professors do look at Facebook and they might make a judgment," Lyons said. "It's easy to say 'oh well we look, but we wont make a final judgment based on that', but how do you take that information out of your mind?"
Then there is this neat article detailing how job recruiters make employment decisions based on online profiles:
Kirt Bennett, 39, financial representative for Northwestern Mutual, said he looks at Facebook.com and MySpace.com profiles before hiring a potential job candidate. The University alumnus goes by the name "Mr. Life Insurance" and is a frequent online user.
"I've disqualified LSU students because they didn't seem prepared for the job based on their profiles," Bennett said. "People don't realize that how you carry yourself on the Internet can be seen by anyone."
Is this digging out of bounds or merely prudent? Even if such investigation is okay, are we making judgments that are too harsh? None of us is perfect, after all. Are we prepared to accept that all of our youthful indiscretions may stay with us forever, and affect our prospects for future employment or promotion?
Cross posted at Shadow of a doubt...