The Internet has certainly changed many aspects of our way of life. It has most certainly impacted education as well. One of the most commonly used sites on the World Wide Web is MySpace.com. This site allows participants to post a profile about themselves. A profile allows users to include personal information such as age, gender, marital status, address, hobbies, etc. Users can also post pictures, videos and are able to blog with their friends. The site is public. A user can set their profile to private, but their photo, gender, city and state are still available for everyone to see. While MySpace.com is a convenient means of communication and expression, it does not come without consequences.
Nationwide there are examples of both teachers and students being disciplined for what has been posted on MySpace.com. Although a teacher has the right to have a MySpace.com profile, one must use good judgment as to what information is posted in such a public, easily accessible setting. Issues arise because students, parents, etc. have access to the teacher’s profile. Some tips to remember are:
- Do not identify which school you teach at.
- Do not post pictures of students.
- Refrain from communicating with students and/or parents via MySpace.com.
- Avoid posting anything that is inappropriate or might embarrass you in the future.
There have also been cases in which students have created fake profiles of teachers and other school staff. Because this is a common problem, MySpace.com has included the question, “How do we remove an imposter profile for a teacher/faculty member?” on the Frequently Asked Questions page. MySpace.com has also created a School Administrator’s Guide. While this guide is not available to the public, schools that do not already have one can request the guide by visiting MySpace.com and requesting a guide through the Contact MySpace page. While this article focuses on MySpace.com, many of the tips can be used for any site that is open to the public and in which there is no expectation of privacy.