Responsible Writing
Posted by Michelle Moquin on September 30th, 2010
Good Morning.
It has been quite a read this morning catching up on all of your comments. Thanks for joining in on the dialogue and banter. I found the info very interesting and helpful this morning. It inspired me to post something that I feel is also interesting and very helpful.
Social Media is so hot these days…my blog included. It is very important to me that my readers not only feel safe blogging here but that their identities are safe here too. When I read this write below from Scambusters, I learned a few things myself, and I thought you would appreciate the advice on protecting yourself too.
I can’t hide from the things I say here; my name and face are everywhere. But you can protect yourself here and other places you voice your two…and you should. I call it responsible writing…Scambusters calls it…
How to protect yourself when you Post on the internet
If you use the Internet, chances are you post online. Perhaps it’s “tweeting” on Twitter, writing your own or commenting on another blog, or a Facebook page.
But your online posting also comes with a hidden “accessory” – the risk of identity theft or even physical crime.
For this week’s issue, we’ve compiled a Top 10 list of rules and actions you can take to cut the risk of becoming a crime victim from online posting.
Follow These 10 Safety Rules When You Post Online
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When you post online, the name of the game is usually to share your ideas and opinions, or even snippets from your personal life.
It should be fun.
Unfortunately, online posting also opens the door for a whole series of potential wrongdoings, from slander and online bullying, to identity theft and crimes that target young people.
Still, these days, most of us want to and do post online. So, here at Scambusters, we’ve put together our 10 Rules to make online posting safer.
1. First, Golden Rule #1. Never post anything — words, pictures, videos, links, emails, blogs, comments and tweets – that you’re not happy for the whole wide world to view. Because that’s the potential of the Internet. There is no hiding place.
No matter how secure or obscure a site is, there is always the risk that it can be hacked, and no matter how little interest you think other people would have in what you said or did, someone you thought you could trust may forward or link to the contents you intended to be private.
2. Golden Rule #2. This follows directly from Rule #1: Think before you post. This was the catchphrase for the 2010 Safer Internet Day campaign, aimed mainly at young people. But it applies to all of us every day.
Some other “think first” tips:
* Don’t post things that aren’t true or allegations that you can’t prove — you could land in legal hot water.
* Don’t victimize or bully other individuals (anonymously or not). You could cause a personal tragedy and end up in jail.
* Don’t fire off a comment based on an instant gut reaction that you might regret later.
* Don’t copy someone else’s comments or ideas and pass them off as your own.
* Watch your language!
3. Names. Be careful how you use your name. Avoid using your full name. Even a nickname could spell trouble — for instance, if it says something suggestive about your character, if it’s a name you already use with others who know your real identity, or if it’s made up from your real name (say, from your initials). First names are best, unless yours is extremely unusual.
These days, many people do use their full names for online posting — on social media sites and blogs for example. Just know that in doing so you’re raising the risk of becoming an identity theft victim.
4. Photos. Bearing in mind Golden Rule #1, don’t post photos you wouldn’t want everyone to see. Full face, high resolution photos may be “snagged” (copied) and used for identity theft. Some people don’t know how easy this is to do with any photo, with just a couple of clicks. Also, as a matter of etiquette, don’t post photos of others without their permission, unless you’re prepared for the consequences if the other person doesn’t think it’s funny.
For preference, use photos in which identities are obscured. And, as a general rule, don’t post photos of children online (especially not other people’s children without permission). If you want to share photos of your kids, put them in a private online album, accessible by invitation or password. Or email them directly to your friends.
5. Addresses. Keep your postal address and your main email address private. That doesn’t guarantee it won’t fall into the wrong hands — postal addresses, for instance, are a matter of public record. Set up and use a “disposable” email address for posting — either one you can delete if it gets into the hands of spahammers (intentionally misspelled) or a different one for each time you have to give it.
By the way, you can easily give away your address accidentally – by posting a photo of yourself outside your home.
6. Phone number. Why would you ever want to give out your phone number to the rest of the world? OK, crooks might be able to find it in a phone book, but to prevent identify theft or even abusive calls, don’t post online.
7. Comments. We all have a point of view on pretty much everything we read on the Internet. If you want to post online with a comment, many sites ask for your name and email address which, they say, is not for disclosure. Why take the risk? Use your first name or even a made-up name, and a temporary email address.
And apply Golden Rule #2 — think before you post. Usually, you can’t take back what you said. Even deleting your comment doesn’t guarantee it hasn’t already been read and stored somewhere else.
8. Keep it closed. As with the child-photo guidance given above, consider having a closed group on social networking sites that can only be accessed by invited users.
9. Read the fine print. Most sites where you can post online comments have a set of rules about how they can use your comments and any personal details you provide about yourself. These rules are usually viewable via a clickable link to ”Privacy Policy.” Make a point of reading this before posting. And if there isn’t a privacy policy, beware!
10. Don’t tell. Don’t give information about your planned movements which would let a burglar know when you’re not at home. See these useful Scambusters issues about posting your whereabouts online and about protecting yourself from burglars.
Readers: There is some good stuff here. I love the Golden Rule #2.: “Think before you post.” To me, the key to responsible writing. Like I said, I can’t hide so what I post here and how I say it is of the utmost importance to me. I don’t write casually, even when it may sound as if I am talking off the cuff. And sometimes I am, but there is still thought in it – I still call it responsible writing.
Being responsible when you write is being responsible for your own well-being.
I think about what I write and how I say it. I know I have a very wide and deep audience so I take that into consideration when I write. This by no means, means that I edit myself or I don’t give my honest opinion. I just put more thought into how I want to articulate myself and I ask the question: What way of writing, what language choices, gets my point across the best?
My writing has changed. This is growth and growth is good. Responsible writing is important to me therefore I must be a responsible writer. If something years later comes back to bite me in the ass, I want to feel just as good about it, as I did when I wrote it. Or at the very least, take all things of that particular time into consideration, and accept my writing for that time.
Now people change and grow and we don’t always feel the same about things years later, or even weeks or days later. And I HOPE that in some cases we do change our thoughts about things…we do have, for lack of a better word, an “Aha! moment. – At least that is what I HOPE here as I write to inspire and bring about change.
I don’t know what lead me off on that tangent but I think Im done. How about hearing from you now? Blog me.
Peace & Love: “Live it, Give it”
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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September 30th, 2010 at 11:39 am
Thank the gods I made up this nickname early on : ) and I have considered all of the above which is why to date there is no full face photo of me here, been working on a fun little montage though, forthcoming soon…but back to subject, I remember a friend asking why I have no pics of my kid on FB, uh duh, no no and no again, read above. I have to admit I hadn’t thought of full identity theft though that happened to C while we had our kitchen remodeled years ago, a subcontractor snagged a check in the mailbox on a friday and went on a ride, luckily and it was pure luck I snagged it that Monday aft, he’d already started to turn his world upside down, got nipped in the bud though ; ) I make sure whatever I say here is what I would say out loud anywhere and be OK with it if it were recorded.
Robert, all I can say is I’m sorry to hear about your mother, it’s hard watching a parent slip away. I know, I had to do it.
My other two – we are all sexual beings and we all fear death to some degree or another – I only fear living a mediocre life in between, if I get dementia (or some other debillitating yet livable disease) and don’t recognize my daughter I told her the right thing to do is find someone who can care for me humanely, I wouldn’t expect her to do it, nor would I know either way (even if I do I don’t expect her to rearrange her entire life to care for me, we’re having our time together right now), and then find her own way to make peace with it, just as I will if it should occur (or maybe I’ll just get pissed and stay that way, there’s no predicting that I’ll be a ‘good’ patient), although I hope for a swift end, who knows how we go, we don’t get to choose how we take that last breath. I think its human nature to want just one more breath, one more moment, one more day…so I say, let’s not waste any of our precious time now.
Caroline, thank you for the compliment. I think bc I was supposed to be a boy, that last shot for the family, my father became at one with teaching me to behave/learn things the way he would’ve taught a boy, he did this at my urging, I was about 6 when I understood clearly that I was a shot at having a son and asked him why not just treat me that boy way thing anyway, hahaha…ah well, look at what they got : ) I’m sure it helped that I looked just like him only tow headed (my Italian nonna was a blondie with blue eyes, striking indeed) and with very dark eyes (my Italian granpas eyes, they’d skipped a generation till me) so he gave it his all and so I take no shit from anyone, he did try to teach me his bigoted ways also but i wasn’t having it. I got my compassion from my grandpa (the nicest human ever) and my passion and my ocassional hot headedness from my nonna (who threw her slipper at my head regularly, but I loved her anyway) and that’s the best I can come up with : )
I’ve been killing myself testing all kinds of things for you all lately and while doing so I pulled my left butt cheek muscle, I assure you this hurts. When you are doing any kind of gym machine/exercise for your butt that you keep your hips in line without over/hyper-extending your hip flexor to get more stretch in your butt, the only way to fix it was/is motrin and walking, a lot of walking, which has brought me back to our original ZL exercise, power walking and it has taken the pain straight away, it’s 3 days later and I’m fine. If you have over extended yourslef I have a stretch for you but you’ll need a friend : o lay on your back, put your left foot on their right shoulder, lay your right leg over their left shoulder and push with that left foot while they lean into your pushing, switch sides and do the other foot/leg, after that it’s up to you what you want to – uh, stretch ; )
Luv, Zen Lill
September 30th, 2010 at 1:36 pm
That’s one of the reasons I like your blog Michelle. You don’t require an email address.
September 30th, 2010 at 1:39 pm
The Secret to Finding a Job When “There Are No Jobs”
Richard Nelson Bolles
Finding a job is tough enough in this economy, but many job hunters reduce the odds of their success by using common job-search strategies that often fail.
Here’s what doesn’t work so well — and what does…
COMMON STRATEGIES
Five popular job-search strategies that do not work for the majority of those who try them…
Mailing out résumés/submitting or posting résumés online.
Odds of success: 7%*
Problem: Employers receive huge numbers of unsolicited résumés. Virtually all of these are filed away without a second look.
Might work if: Your résumé is handed to an employer by someone the employer knows and trusts — particularly if this individual adds a personal recommendation.
Responding to ads in professional or trade journals.
Odds of success: 7%.
Problem: Employers tend to place ads in these journals only for low-wage jobs and other positions that they have had trouble filling. Also, because most trade journals are national, jobs listed there often require relocation.
Might work if: You have a specific skill set that is difficult for employers to find and you are willing to relocate.
Responding to ads on Internet jobs sites.
Odds of success: 10%.
Problem: Employers tend to post jobs on Internet job sites only as a last resort, because such ads tend to bring a flood of responses from mostly inappropriate or low-quality applicants.
A significant percentage of jobs posted on employment Web sites are outright scams, and competition tends to be very fierce for the legitimate openings.
Might work if: Your field is information technology (IT). Attractive IT jobs often are advertised online because employers know that tech-savvy employees tend to use the Internet for everything.
Responding to ads in the local newspapers.
Odds of success: Between 5% and 24%, depending on your salary requirements.
Problem: Most employers consider newspaper classifieds an out-of-date way to find applicants. Few bother to list attractive jobs there anymore.
Might work if: You’re willing to work for close to minimum wage. Many low-paying jobs still are listed in local newspapers.
Working with a private employment agency or search firm.
Odds of success: Between 5% and 28%, depending on your salary requirements.
Problem: With the economy struggling, employers don’t see the need to pay search firms to find qualified applicants — there are more than enough coming to them. Also, there is little evidence that agencies do a particularly good job of finding work for clients.
Might work if: You are looking for a low-wage office position, such as a secretarial or clerical job.
BEST WAYS TO FIND WORK
Five job-hunting strategies that offer excellent odds of success, ordered from least to most successful…
Networking for leads.
Odds of success: 33%.
Advantage: Employers love to hire based on personal recommendations from employees and trusted contacts — it vastly improves the odds that the applicant will be talented and suitable.
Limitation: The success of your networking depends on the size and quality of your network. Don’t give up if at first no one you know has heard of a job. Continue to expand your network when you are unemployed by asking your contacts to put you in touch with their contacts… and remaining active in your community.
Knocking on doors unannounced at employers of interest. Express an interest in the company or sector, and ask for five minutes of the boss’s time.
Odds of success: 47%.
Advantage: It’s more common than you might think to find an employer who is about to list an opening, and he/she might hire you without even interviewing other candidates. Small-business owners tend to be go-getters who respect the moxie of those who knock on doors and ask if there is a need for their skills and experience.
Limitation: You must anticipate that you likely will be rejected to your face. Also, this knock-on-doors strategy doesn’t work well at large companies, where it is hard to get a meeting with an executive without an appointment. Stick to smaller companies with 50 or fewer employees. Midafternoon is the best time to do this. Dress in attire appropriate to that business.
Calling companies of interest that are listed in the local Yellow Pages (or white pages business section). As with the strategy above, ask for the owner, very briefly explain your background or relevant skills, then ask if he/she knows anyone in the industry in need of someone like you… or if you could come in and talk with him about the industry. To present yourself in the best light, review your skills before each call and remind yourself that you would be a productive, useful employee.
Odds of success: 69%.
Advantage: This is a great way to get to know businesses in your region. You could be hired for a job that has not yet been advertised.
Limitation: This is ineffective with large companies that have computerized phone systems and operators who make it difficult to reach those in charge.
Partnering with other job hunters. Put together a group of job hunters who agree to keep an eye out for opportunities suitable for others in the group. Meet at least weekly. To build your group, team up with job hunters you know or go to job fairs to meet attendees.
Odds of success: 70%.
Advantage: More eyes looking for opportunities means more opportunities coming your way. And working with a group makes it harder to slack off on the job search.
Limitation: This works best when members are looking for employment in fields that call for different skills and career goals, so they are not in competition for the same jobs.
Taking inventory of yourself, then targeting the employers where you ought to be working. Spend at least a weekend considering which of all of your skills you most enjoy using… in which fields you would most enjoy putting those skills to work… which organizations have these jobs to offer… which people at those organizations have the power to hire you… and how best to approach them.
Odds of success: 86%.
Advantage: Job hunters who use this systematic process tend to appear more confident to employers, which makes them more appealing hires. They also are better able to explain why they would be an asset to the organization.
Limitation: It takes time to do this properly. The secret is to define your skills and the type of work you wish to do in as much detail as possible. In poor economies, many job hunters assume that they must cast a broad net and look for any available job. These people come off as desperate. The most successful job interviewees write a detailed inventory of what they have to offer an employer and analyze times when they were successful before they actually go to an interview.
*The “odds of success” percentages cited in this article are based on industry studies and other sources. They reflect the percentage of job hunters who eventually found work by pursuing the strategy.
Bottom Line/Personal interviewed Richard Nelson Bolles, a leader in the career development field for more than 30 years. He is author of What Color Is Your Parachute?, the best-selling job-hunting book of all time (revised annually). His latest book is The Job-Hunter’s Survival Guide: How to Find Hope and Rewarding Work, Even When “There Are No Jobs” (both published by Ten Speed). He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. http://www.jobhuntersbible.com.
September 30th, 2010 at 1:52 pm
Zen Lill
How can anyone steal your identity by snagging your picture? We don’t know your real identity. So please don’t let that scare stop you from making our day with a beautiful glossy of that beautiful puss[face, I mean :)].
Your fans have been patient too long to have their hopes dashed by a non applicable scare.
Larry
September 30th, 2010 at 2:01 pm
Is this the height of hypocrisy or what?
Dear Patriot:
During the Primary, the people were heard. In the Delaware US Senate Race it’s now Harry Reid’s “pet” vs. the People’s Voice.
They were heard over the loud cries of the DC elite, and the liberal media. Our tone-deaf Washington “leaders” want their people in DC to protect their bloated budgets, insider deals, and special interest money.
But the night of September 14th, the people said differently. They want THEIR voice in DC.
I won’t agree to those deals, so let’s be honest- I won’t get their money. As a result, I’m truly going to need to be the “people powered” candidate.
My opponent once referred to himself as a “bearded Marxist”. I refer to myself as a true conservative.
Harry Reid called my opponent “my pet” and my opponent can count on his money. I can only count on conservatives like you.
I mean, have you ever seen DC power players as disappointed as they were when we were victorious in the Primary? I’ll stand up against their schemes, so they won’t stand with me. I’ll stop their shenanigans so they want to stop me.
But I have a powerful weapon they don’t. You.
They depend on dirty money from the liberal special interests in Washington, DC. I’ll depend on support from Main Street in Bridgeville, Delaware.
They depend on supporters from MoveOn.org. I’ll depend on supporters from the little league and from parents.
So, while my opponent will surely run to his well heeled donors, I will make my appeal- to you.Will you support me financially today?
Even $100, $50 or $35 would make a big difference.
In return, I’ll pledge to you to stand up against the bailouts, the government run health care scheme, the onerous new taxes coming from the Democrats, and DC’s politics as usual.
Will you stand with me?
It’s urgent considering the election is literally weeks away. I’ll need to begin my advertising immediately and I just spent my available funds on the Primary.
An urgent contribution would be appreciated.
Together, we can stand up against the DC ruling class and send a loud message to Capitol Hill: We’ve had enough!
For the cause,
CHRISTINE
Republican Nominee for U.S. Senate, Delaware
P.S. The election is just a few weeks away. We know Harry Reid’s “pet” will be ready to unleash his negative ads against me. Will you stop what your doing RIGHT NOW and constribute today? A donation of $50, $100 or $250 would make a big difference.
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These guys have no shame.
Mike
October 1st, 2010 at 7:56 am
Thank you Michelle for making my friends feel safe when they voice an opinion on your blog. Here in Iran we are being constantly monitored.
Qalat
October 1st, 2010 at 8:20 am
Michelle most of us here in Israel feel that your President Obama wants Israel to experience peace without having to give up the peace of mind that comes from securing an area of buffer that acts to protect the people living in Israel from missile bombardment from the arabs.
Most of us realize that the Republican Party is playing politics with Israel’s safety. We see their maneuvering as an attempt to cause explosive violence between the non-peace seeking forces of the Middle East and Israel.
The Republicans seems to be willing to expose the people of Israel to death and destruction in order to make your President look weak in the eyes of the American people in the Foreign Policy arena and to syphon votes from his Jewish support.
Our own leaders are caught between trying to support your President and having to please a party who may win back the White House in the 2012 election or the House and Senate in your upcoming election in November.
These are very scary times for us as we watch your politics play out and pray. Some of us are hoping that the events that your Madaline guaranteed you for the success of the election of your President Obama and the “long coat tail” was not a fluke.
We hope that you will take into consider her recent request to guarantee the success of the Democratic Party in the upcoming November election and say yes.
We fear that if the Republican Party gets any encouragement from their recent actions of demonizing your President and his party they will only continue it through the 2012 election process.
If that happens, your country and the rest of the world will suffer. Your hesitation to interfere with the will of the people could cause your country and countries like Israel to suffer irreparable harm.
When a people have been brainwashed into believing lies, how is that different than any con played on the unsuspecting or innocent? It would be a sin and a crime for the knowing to stand idly by and do nothing.
Hence, it is our belief that you should order Madaline to insure a large Democratic victory. We are not asking for a landslide, just a significant victory.
Dafne
Dafne
October 1st, 2010 at 8:22 am
My group thanks you too for enabling us to post our position without fear of our email addresses falling into the wrong hands.
Farah
October 1st, 2010 at 10:26 am
I am squeamish around mice. But this is a story that may mean good things for Guam’s environment.
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In a ploy to rid Guam of its population of invasive brown tree snakes, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is bombing the island with drugged frozen mice, military news outlet Stars and Stripes reported.
Using Naval Base Guam as a starting point, scientists drop mice packed with acetaminophen from helicopters into the jungle canopy.
The drug — commonly found in Tylenol — provided a regulatory advantage because it had already undergone extensive testing, Dan Vice, assistant state director of USDA Wildlife Services in Hawaii, Guam and the Pacific Islands, told Stars and Stripes.
Guam’s snake problem began in the 1980s, when the creatures arrived on the island accidentally in military cargo. The mildly venomous snakes can grow up to 10 feet long and, according to the Department of Land and Natural Resources for the State of Hawaii, are the leading cause of endangerment for some of Guam’s native animals.
“The discovery that snakes will die when they eat acetaminophen was a huge step forward,” Anne Brooke, conservation resources program manager for Naval Facilities Command Marianas told Stars and Stripes. “The problem was how you get the snakes to eat it.”
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The solution was to drop the mice into the snakes’ natural habitat, the branches of trees in the jungles of Guam. By outfitting the mice with cardboard wings and green party streams, the bait could float down to the jungle and catch on the branches. The result is a hanging, deadly snack for the snakes.
Researchers began testing the system at the beginning of September, dropping 200 mice into 20 acres around the base, Stars and Stripes reported.
The effectiveness of the drop will offer insights into how well it might work elsewhere on the island — and whether it might be a key to solving a longtime ecological problem, Vice said.
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I hope it works.
Hafa Adai
Anna