I have to admit that I’m sometimes amazed at the things people say online. Just this weekend I was surfing around bragbook, I mean Facebook, and I noticed an old friend of mine made an interesting status update.
The update read: so-and-so ” is drunk on a Wednesday!”
No disrespect to my friend who may end up reading this, but it got me thinking. It’s certainly not a big deal to have a few drinks on a Wednesday, but it really made me reflect on a few things.
People have lost jobs because of Facebook status updates. They call and sick and then continue to post 200 pictures of themselves boozing it up when they were supposed to be in bed with the flu. Next thing you know, someone at work informs your boss and you’re out of a job.
But there’s something far more important to consider than the stupidity of losing a job over Facebook. It’s the legacy you’re leaving for both your children and grandchildren to see.
Make no mistake about it, everything you say and do online is leaving a permanent data trail of the history of your life. We’re essentially writing our own documentaries.
I’m not sure we can even fully comprehend what this means at such an early stage of Facebook and other lifestreaming activities.
I think about legacy a lot and to me this is the most exciting yet scary thing about it.
For most of us, we’re lucky to have a collection of old dusty photos and a mix mash of historical information passed down like a game of telephone. The stories change and often get better each time your grandfather tells them.
Our kids and grandkids will have our entire lives to dissect. There won’t be any possibility for the stories or truths to become muddled because we’ve written them ourselves.
Every picture
Every status update
Every tweet
Every vacation
Every party where you had too much to drink
Every YouTube video
All of it.
Think about it.
