The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/448505
PEER TO PEER: THE QUARTERLY MAGA ZINE OF ILTA 52 also prudent to think first before randomly posting pictures or engaging in negative behavior online. A few years back, my organization posted a job ad on Craigslist — to which we received hundreds of responses. We narrowed down the field quickly by doing a simple browser search about candidates. Some of the results were shocking. There were profanity-laced profiles, naughty pictures and a profile full of insults directed at a current employer. Needless to say, those individuals did not get a call back. A good rule of thumb is: If you don't want your mom to see it, don't post it. And while we're talking about posting, it's not a good idea to post information about going on, or currently being on, vacation. Letting a would-be robber know that your house is empty is never a good idea. CORPORATE SOCIAL BLUNDERS Many corporations are using social media to monitor feedback from customers. I recently posted a comment about Alaska Airlines. Within a minute, I received a response. Companies respond to social media because they know posts will be seen by many people and have the potential to go viral if not addressed promptly and adequately. But sometimes it's the customer service posts that go viral. Take, for instance, this unfortunate exchange between US Airways and an unhappy passenger. Passenger: @USAirways Unhappy that 1787 sat for an hour on tarmac in CLT because overweight, resulting in over hour late arrival in PDX. Airline: We truly dislike delays too and are very sorry your flight was affected. Passenger: @USAirways yeah, you seem so very sorry. So sorry, in fact, that you couldn't be bothered to address my other tweets. Airline: We welcome feedback, (name). If your travel is complete, you can detail it here for review and follow-up (followed by a link to a sexually explicit photo). The airline later stated the mistake occurred when a picture flagged as inappropriate was pasted into the contents of the response for a different message. US Airways issued an apology. The exchange, however, had already gone viral. Other corporate social media mishaps include one from @KitchenAidUSA who made a negative comment about President Obama's grandmother's death, and Chrysler, whose social media manager posted an f-bomb rant about drivers in Detroit. The list of corporate blunders is too long to list. OPT OUT OF THE DARK There is a proliferation of information being captured about each and every one of us, and much of it we have little control over. Candidly, I'm not sure anyone knows the true A good rule of thumb is: If you don't want your mom to see it, don't post it. extent of how much information is being captured about us. As Hoback noted: "Good surveillance happens invisibly. It's only when someone messes up that we find out about it. The profiles social media companies build on you could lead to something like a tax audit, or even your arrest, and you may never know the cause." Fortunately, there are things we can do to limit our exposure. We can choose better software browsers. We can set privacy options. We can opt out of sharing information with third parties. We can use more robust passwords. We can avoid taking and sharing compromising pictures of ourselves (or others). We must think before we post, connect and like. Above all, we must realize that everything we post will outlast us all. You can click delete, but it's already been indexed and stored. Beware of the dark side of social media, and think twice before your next post. FEATURES