Online Reputation Talk ~ Wayne Denner
I was quite excited for our first talk of Transition Year. I understand there are many more talks on various topics still to come, but I take one day at a time, and today’s talk was on ‘Online Reputation’. I believe we had this talk with the same speaker the previous year but nonetheless it is good to be reminded about your online reputation. I was not aware our speaker, called Wayne Denner, was such an accomplished man in his area of expertise. He travels to schools around the country on a daily basis to preach the message of protecting your online reputation. In addition he travels around the world, for example he was in Dubai last week, to spread the same message. Wayne Denner also came to the world finals for best invention of 2015! That is quite an achievement. Online reputation is a universal issue as people misuse the internet all the time. Sometimes intentionally sometimes by accident. Wayne stressed the point that we must: stop and think before we post anything online, because once it's out there, it is very difficult to get it off the web. Everything you post is your online footprint, and these footprints can come back to haunt you in the future. The speaker showed us some extreme examples of when this has happened. For example a Burger King employee thought it would be funny to post a picture of him standing in the salad bowls. This may have been funny for a few minutes but when the boss found out and tracked down in which Burger King this picture was taken, it was most definitely no longer funny. The employee got fired and so did 3 others who were present when the picture was taken. This is proof how one picture can ruin your career and possibly life.
I learned that 99% of employers today research the candidates on the internet before they even read their CV. Despite having an excellent reference and CV, if a candidate has pictures of them partying all the time and consuming alcohol, they probably won’t even be considered for the job! I was shocked by a short film Wayne showed us, about a teenage girl sending a picture of herself wearing a new top to a boy. The boy showed it to his friends who took pictures of it and passed on the picture to other people. I couldn’t believe how quickly information and photos can travel on the internet. At the end of the film the girl is being cyber bullied by people insulting her picture. The moral of the story is think twice about sending pictures or information and protect your online identity.
The invention Wayne Denner created that brought him to the world finals was an app that scans your social media pages and tell you what you should delete or what could be dangerous in the future, I think everyone needs this app!
This talk reminded me about the dangers of social media. It made me aware how your online reputation can determine your future. I will be extra careful when posting, liking or socializing in social media as I fully understand the consequences now.
The invention Wayne Denner created that brought him to the world finals was an app that scans your social media pages and tell you what you should delete or what could be dangerous in the future, I think everyone needs this app!
This talk reminded me about the dangers of social media. It made me aware how your online reputation can determine your future. I will be extra careful when posting, liking or socializing in social media as I fully understand the consequences now.