I deleted that Facebook post I wrote after having consumed 10 pints of strong beer, the one in which I made unfounded allegations about Ms Y and Mr X. Its no longer showing on my Timeline so it’s all fine now, isn’t it?
Well no, it isn’t! Once something is out there on the internet it is impossible to completely erase it. In the above (fictional) example the post has disappeared from the Facebook user’s timeline. It has, however already been shared many times before the drunken Facebooker had the nouse to delete it. Mr X’s lawyer has already written to Facebook asking that they disclose the poster’s details in order that legal proceedings may be commenced against him. To compound matters Ms Y’s boyfriend knows who the poster is and is on his way round to his home to “have a word”.
In this purely fictional example one may smile at the stupidity of the poster. However such instances of stupidity are commonplace. Take, for example the unfounded allegations regarding certain prominent persons that they where paedophiles. Quite rightly the persons libeled took great exception to the slur on their character and sued.
I feel sorry for young people today. While at university there was no internet so student antics could not be plastered all over the World Wide Web (not that there was anything to plaster in the case of yours truly I hasten to add. I was, of course a model of rectitude …)! However in this age of the internet every unguarded comment made online can come back to haunt the poster. A young teenager, their emotional and mental development still in flux says something on social media which on reaching adulthood they bitterly regret. Sadly it often seems to be wholly irrelevant that the poster now genuinely disavows their youthful comments. The media shows no mercy and they are pilloried for comments which, had they been made in the pre internet age would have been, in all likelyhood long since forgotten.
In Nineteen Eighty-Four George Orwell introduces Memory Holes. All scrap paper and documents which are no longer relevant or are embarrassing to “The Party” go into these recepticles and are taken to furnaces in the depths of The Ministry Of Truth for destruction. It is never made explicit in the novel but one is left with the strong impression that there are no such furnaces. The Memory Holes are just what it says on the tin – a place where information is stored by the authorities to be used at a later date against the population of Oceania. Virtual Memory Holes are alive and kicking for anyone with the patience and technical expertise to access them. Post in haste repent at leisure.
Kevin
K Morris - Poet 
Reblogged this on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog and commented:
Nuff Said…
Thanks for the reblog Chris. Best. Kevin
Exactly. 😮
Thanks for your comment. Kevin
You are welcome.
How clever was our Mr Orwell
Yes indeed. Thanks for your comment. Kevin
Those midnight, drunken posts are bad news 😉
I shall refrain from asking whether you have been there, done that and got the t-shirt, (smile)! Thanks for your comment. Kevin
I would be petrified to be a teenager now, I think I would avoid all social media. Apparently one wrong statement (or even a right statement) can be torn apart, twisted about and spit out as something completely different for everyone to see. It seems like everyone is just circling out in cyberspace, waiting for the next vaguely injured victim, waiting to attack and annihilate. It’s a scary world outside the borders of anonymity.
Excellent post – thanks!!!!!!!
Thanks for your comment and I’m pleased you liked the post. I agree, it is a scary world out there. Interestingly an article in today’s Mail Online appears to indicate that teenagers are starting to take online privacy seriously (I have linked to the piece in a later post on this blog). Kind regards. Kevin
When I read the title of this blog, what immediately occurred to me was comments I post, only to discover typos and grammatical errors I am unable to edit. Seriously, though, teen girls and young women are prime targets for “slut-bashing.”
Thanks for your comments Connie. You make a good point about teen girls and young women being a prime target for slut bashing. There is a lot of concern about young girls (some of whom are well under the age of 16) sending naked pictures of themselves to “boyfriends” which end up online. Once there it is all but impossible to be 100 percent certain they have been removed. Even if the content is deleted from the web it may well have been downloaded and shared many times before this happens. Kevin
I just read an interesting book by Leora Tenenbaum about this very thing. (She’s the one who coined the term “slut-bashing.” The book is entitled I Am Not a Slut. The resources at the back of the book are great.
Thanks for the book recommendation. I will be sure to check it out. Regards. Kevin