[Air-L] Public/ Private

[Charlie Balch]

A list member made an off-list point that the poster might later regret the
content of their public post. The fact that the net is public and recorded
is one of the issues that I have my students consider. It is common practice
for human resources to explore a persons web identity before hiring someone
for professional jobs.

What is the extent of harm when embarrassing information is published in
academic journals versus the benefit? I'd like to believe readers of
academic journals include fewer predators than those of traditional media. I
also think that acacademic journals are not as widely read as traditional
news links or blogs. Other information outlets have little or no
restrictions on the "public" content that the distribute. Why should
academics be more restricted? We (academics) need to understand phenomena. 

Everything on the net is not only searchable but it is possible to even set
up search criteria that provides notification of new content when it
appears.

This brings up the issue of when I as researcher must/should notify
appropriate authorities of criminal activity. Blogs are often daydreams...

Charlie Balch