Think of the Send Button as a Privacy Vaporizer

Kind of like a ray gun.  Because when you press send your privacy is gone.  You have officially gone public.

A ray gun or a send button?

This includes the send button for email, instant messaging, text messaging, Twitter DMs, Facebook messages, voicemail and anything posted to a social network or an online forum.

This week I was interviewed for a Boston Globe story about online privacy.  Reporter Joseph P. Kahn explored the seemingly sudden explosion of celebrities undone by email or social networks – from Brett Favre’s alleged mobile phone photos to the Cooks Source editor who wrote a nasty email to a freelancer.

It’s a great piece by Kahn and I recommend reading it (see the link below).  And while it isn’t exactly a news flash for people in technology/social media/PR, it does come as a surprise to many people who are just getting their feet wet in online communications and  social media.

All it takes to lose your reputation (and get into an online crisis) is to think that your online correspondence is private.

It’s a risk to forget that.

Links:

Boston Globe story “Once You Hit Send, Privacy Gone”

Photo by Joost J. Bakker (via Flickr)