To Censor or Not to Censor: The Public-Private Identity Crisis

An interesting topic came up in my class tonight, and it's something that has come up several times before in conversations I've had: the tension between public and private life. The main issue that came up was how much individual responsibility we have for protecting our private lives based on what we portray on Facebook and other online forums. What brought this up was a real-life ethical dilemma concerning a former SU student who was applying to be an RA and who met all requirements for the position, along with being well-liked, except that it was discovered he had performed in a single pornographic video about a year prior. Ultimately, the decision that was made was to deny him the position because of the moral values of the university and the potential fallout among students and family members. During our conversation, many folks in the class stressed the students' own responsibility for putting out something of that nature to the public--a point that is hard to dispute given the circumstances and the extremeness of this example.

However, this really got me thinking about smaller scale examples of the blurring of lines between our public and private lives, especially where online self-presentations are concerned. As many of us know, employers these days frequently look up potential job candidates on Facebook or Google their names, and this is often considered a justifiable and useful way to determine whether they are a good fit or not. However, is it ethical to do this? How much of this hiring strategy is rooted in a desire to "dig up dirt" on individuals, and how much is prone to engaging in potentially discriminatory hiring practices? Does Jane Doe's status update on the Occupy movement or the upcoming election have anything to do with her ability to perform the job duties? I think this is a complex issue because, as with almost everything, there are gray areas and contextual nuances. Surely, putting up inappropriate pictures of oneself on Facebook or posting status updates that are offensive or slanderous is not smart and should be avoided if one cares about the potential consequences of such actions. Whether it's fair or not, some would argue, what we put online is with us forever and CAN be visible to the public, so why take the risk? I agree with this point to a significant extent, but I also question the transformation of social networking profiles and blogs, etc. into some sort of professional resume or reputation-builder. In my opinion, everyone has a right to keep their private lives private and should not have to censor themselves in media that are supposed to reflect their authentic selves. For example, I want my Facebook page to be an avenue where I can voice my opinions or feelings without fearing that they will be held against me by coworkers. I want my blog to be an electronic space where I can write passionately about what gets my engines going, without it being taken out of context. Essentially, I don't want to have to keep up any facades, and I don't want my freedom of speech to be functionally snatched away from me.

That being said, I also believe we do have a level of personal responsibility for guarding our private lives (accidentally typed out "guarding our privates"...yeah, that too.) so as to not make ourselves vulnerable to public scrutiny. I think everyone should adjust their Facebook privacy settings to allow for the maximum amount of information being withheld from the public. I think everyone should be unafraid to refrain from "friend requesting" coworkers, especially supervisors or employees, unless they have a trusting and personable relationship with them (this includes denying friend requests sent to you from such parties or deleting those who we don't trust with certain information). On a related note, I admire celebrities who are steadfast about maintaining their private lives and who don't give into media pressure to talk about their romantic relationships, families, etc. However, I think it's reasonable to expect that our employers, coworkers, fans, or other non-personal contacts show due respect for our privacy and avoid crossing boundaries--even if it's possible and accessible to do so.

Ultimately, I don't believe in segmenting our lives to the point that we embody some kind of Jekyll and Hyde persona between our public and personal lives (a la dozens of phony politicians and public figures). We should definitely aim for continuity in all aspects of ourselves, instead of compartmentalizing them. Ideally, who we are in our private lives is not someone we are utterly ashamed to reveal to the public. Nevertheless, there are few people who portray all the same aspects of themselves to coworkers, classmates, family, and friends alike. It's only natural to externalize varying degrees of our true selves to different people in different contexts. For this reason, I think privacy is a two-way street, and we need to meet in the middle. What do YOU think? Has your private life been compromised by online venues, employers, coworkers, or your own poor judgment? Do you believe that all's fair in love and war...and hiring; i.e. Facebook, blogs, and any other online resource is fair game for potential employers' scrutiny? Do tell!

Threats of Root Canals and Other Things That Ruin Your Day

Well, hello blog. We meet again. I have been far too busy lately to keep up with my weekly blog posts--those lazy days are gone, I'm afraid. Looks like it's going to have to be a monthly treat!

The latest? Welp, today was kind of one of those days you want to punch in the face. It started off with me waking up and stepping on a wet patch of bunny pee on my bedroom carpet, which apparently my little stowaway rodent decided to leave as a present the night before when he was hopping about. Then I got to go get my first ever filling at the dentist, which only took about 45 minutes, but felt like eternity. They told me the cavity was deeper than they thought it would be and that if they had gone any deeper with the filling, I may have needed to get an on-the-spot root canal! She said I should be fine, but that later down the road, if the medicine she put in doesn't work, I may still need one. Really? Being someone who was able to boast about never having a cavity until a couple weeks ago, this was like telling a little kid there's no Santa Claus. So, I basically had a toothache the rest of the day, and then work was one stress after another. It's the first week of registration at North Seattle CC, so, naturally, about 90% of the student body has decided to wait until the last minute to schedule advising appointments. We've been bombarded, and there seems to be no end in sight, although I will say today was better than yesterday and the day before.

And then there's my supervisor. Well, technically, my supervisor's supervisor. I kid you not, she is literally the female equivalent of Bill Lumberg from Office Space. The similarities are almost comedic, actually. Almost. She loves to swoop into my workspace several times a day and say, "Heyyy, how's it going," which is never followed by even a courtesy pause for me to answer, but instead immediately followed by, "So, you do remember to check the voicemail, riiiight?" [read in sickeningly disingenuous, condescending tone]. She proceeds to give me multiple "reminders" to do basic job functions I do every day, as if I am a cave woman seeing fire for the first time. Yeah, lady, I got it. Part of the problem is that I have been getting mixed messages from every person I work with about what exactly my job responsibilities are, so I'm having a hard time understanding who to believe. So I dutifully reply, "Yeah, that's no problem, I'll do that. Thanks for the reminder" [teeth gritting], and she says, "Yeeeah, it's really important to make sure we get to those advising voicemails as soon as possible. Mmmk? Thaaaanks." Grrrr.

Once I got off work, things looked up slightly, as I discovered that the yoga class I attend after work on Wednesdays has a new instructor. She is light years better than the previous one, who had no fluidity to her yoga series, and who routinely called out and humiliated students in the class for not doing positions perfectly. She had a knack for saying, "Well, that was pretty bad, but I can tell you're trying." The story is that the commute was too long for her, and with Daylight Savings Time ending, she couldn't handle it anymore. My take? That's just politics. I wouldn't be surprised if one (or more) of her victims had the chutzpah to formally complain about her. Unfortunately, my commute home after class made me want to punch the day in the face again when some d-bag decided to pull right out in front of me on 15th Ave, nearly blindsiding me. Fortunately, I'm the ultimate defensive driver, and I swerved into the right lane to avoid being hit, which I most certainly would have otherwise. The part that bugs me the most is that this person didn't even look over at me and appeared to have the most leisurely look imaginable, clearly oblivious to the fact that he/she (couldn't tell) almost REALLY ruined my day. And, as usual, my focus was so much on gettin' the hell out the way that I forgot to give a disgruntled honk. That always happens to me! Considering how many ridiculously sub-par drivers there are in this city, my horn goes severely under-utilized.

So, needless to say again, my day (and week, in general) has been kind of a pain, but I've been self-medicating every night with Dexter, on loan from the library. That and ice cream. Copious amounts of Tillamook cookie dough ice cream. Don't judge.

Catch ya'll...well, probably next month. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! I am thankful for YOU. :)