Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Careful With Those Lists

As we assemble for SEC Media Day in Hoover, Ala., I'm watching news on the treadmill about the JournoList scandal. I use the word "scandal" in air quotes. At the end of the day, a group of people that should have realized that if you put your inside jokes and crude humor out on the internet -- even if its a private list of your friends -- eventually it will get out.

The same folks who LOVE to ask for huge email dumps of FOI should know better.

Read more here from the Atlantic and the Wall Street Journal.

I bring this up to remind colleagues in the SID field two things. First, should you really be commenting on your Facebook pages about political points of view? No names here, but a recent thread about the point of view of a particular cable news network. Second, there are a couple of lists out there, and in the past I've seen my share of rants against coaches, administrators and policies. Don't assume those lists might not someday surface just like the Journolist.

Take the same care with your digital record that you advise your student-athletes. Digital assets are easily duplicated and last forever.

1 comment:

Chris Syme said...

Scandal or none--you sound an appropriate alarm. What happens on the internet (including email) stays on the internet--forever. This ain't Vegas. Thanks as usual. Hope all is well in SEC country.