Fuzzy Thoughts

I was surfing around, either on fark or Flying Hamster and came upon this article (alternate link).

Basically this article is a little about how people’s online image (via sites such as FaceBook, MySpace, and other social networking sites could possible harm then when they go to apply for jobs, but more on how there is a business that will take a look at how a person appears online, and if the image that is given is a bad one that could be detrimental to someone getting hired (or accepted to college or graduate school), then recommendations will be given on how to improve the image. One of these is to contact the website that is hosting the material, and ask that it be taken down. If that fails, they will bring in the lawyers.

Does anyone else besides me see a problem with this? While if something is truly wrong, I see no problem with the owner being asked to take it down. But if Joe Schmoe really is a drunk and a liar, and I in some way, shape, or form post that somewhere, then why should I take that down.

I think the problem (one of them, at least) is that people in this country are sue happy. There are so many lawsuits that I read about where the only thought I have at the end is “uhhh…they are suing why?!” I’ve even heard of people suing against the advice of their lawyers, but the lawyers file the case anyways because that’s what the client wants.

If people took care not to do things that are stupid, illegal, or could have a negative impact on their reputation if posted online, then we wouldn’t have this problem, would we? But who am I kidding? That’s never going to happen.