Are Your Youngsters Becoming Too Public?

Is privacy becoming an attitude of the past? Does the younger generation have a different version of privacy than yours? 

When I see all these young people posting private messages and candid photos on social media outlets, I wonder if they realize what some of the ramifications can be.   Often the information is what we would have whispered in secret to our best friend.  Nowadays, it’s made public for all one’s friends and often friends of friends, which translates into strangers.  In some cases, I’ve even seen parents commenting on these private messages which seems to indicate they think it’s okay to go public (naked) before the world.

Do you think your youngsters are becoming too public?  Do you know what they write on Twitter, Facebook and other similar venues?  Do you know what family information they are giving out?  Do you know who they are adding as friends and communicating with?

Mark Evans has a good article about this and the implications, Is There a Limit to Our PublicNess? 

In general, most people don’t realize the ramifications of placing all your private information out for everyone to see.  Perhaps we need to teach our youngsters more about privacy in regards to the information and photos they publish about their life and others.

What are your thoughts? 

(Gossip image: sxc.hu)