Social
Media
As Formidable as they are Useful
Social
Media
As Formidable as they are Useful
1
Social Media:
Beware!
Social media have soared over
the past few years. It is now
commonplace for students – and
CSQ members – to have a blog,
a Facebook page or an account
on one or more of the various
social media (Twitter, YouTube,
Picasa, MySpace, LinkedIn, Flickr,
Skyblog, etc.).
The undeniable advantages they
provide help explain their phenomenal
popularity: finding friends, maintaining
professional contacts or developing
communities around a pastime, a passion
or shared interests.
Like never before, these tools make
publishing texts, images or videos easier.
This represents a huge step forward in
terms of freedom of expression. However,
public speaking is fraught with its own
particular demands and ambushes.
Indeed, people tend to feel safe when
surrounded by “friends”. While sitting
alone in front of a monitor, we often
forget that we are on a public forum.
Consequently, the line between our
public and private lives becomes blurred,
making it easy for us to mistake our
webpage for a diary.
ISBN 987-2-89061-111-5
All rights reserved © 2011
Centrale des syndicats du Québec
Legal Deposit - 2011
Bibliothèque et archives nationales
du Québec / Library and
Archives Canada
1
Social
Media
As Formidable as they are Useful
in a
Nutshell
Originated in 2004, Facebook
is currently the most widely
used social networking tool in
the world. Only six years after
its inception, it boasts over 500
million users. This phenomenal
growth is a testament to people’s
interest in social media.
Facebook allows its users to form groups
of “friends” or acquaintances and to
publish information of varying nature in
text, image or video form. It also allows
its users to control how visible their
published information is.
Another feature allows you to let your
“friends” interact with you on your wall.
You can also “chat” with some of them if
they are online or if you prefer, you may
opt to send a personal message.
If Facebook encourages its users to
gather as large a number of friends as
possible, it is because it helps generate
enormous revenues from targeted
advertising. The more people in its
database, the more money is raked in.
Beware, however: although the idea of
having many Facebook friends might
seem appealing, you could come to the
realization that the friends of your friends
are not necessarily your friends...
1 These numbers were share by owners of Facebook
and may be contested by some experts.
Publish on Social Media and
Renounce Your Right to Privacy
Although the Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects your right to privacy, you
renounce it as soon you allow your personal information to become available on
any of the social networking websites.
Unsurprisingly, few people bother to read Facebook’s privacy policy before they open an account…
Thus, they don’t quite realize what they are getting into… Did you know, for instance, that the
website reserves the right to use, alter or sell everything users put in their profiles be it a text,
a picture, a video or even personal data (i.e. age, city of residence, leisure activities and
other interests).
Facebook has sworn that this information is distributed anonymously
and in bulk. Whatever the case may be, it is always best to remember that
any information published on profiles is marketable and quite lucrative.
Even if the website allows users to regulate their account
settings and to keep third parties from accessing their pages,
they must realize that each time they publish information
on Facebook, as well as on other social networks,
an imprint is left.
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While Words If good news
travels fast in social
Travel Fast, media, you can
bet that bad news
They can will travel even
faster. It would
Also Stay be ill-advised to
publish confidential
for a Long information about
students, colleagues
Time
and administration
staff.
The same goes for criticisms made about them.
These written declarations made carelessly or
in anger could cause you serious harm such as
reprimands or disciplinary sanctions.
The old Latin saying verba volant, scripta manent
(i.e. spoken words fly away, written words remain)
is entirely true here. Words can stay for a very
long time – even after you have deleted them –
because search engines automatically index them.
Many school boards, for example, offer extranettype private zones so that personnel, students
and parents can publish information and send
messages. It is better to use these official
channels and to observe, at all times, exemplary
professional norms when transmitting information.
Social
Media
As Formidable as they are Useful
2
Reputations
can Take a
Beating!
Never display any
compromising
pictures or
confidential
information on
networking websites.
An apparently
innocent photo could
put you in trouble. For
example, a picture of
you taken by a colleague at an office party
where alcohol was served could go around
your institution at the speed of lightning
once it is published on Facebook.
In addition, education personnel should refrain from
communicating with students on social networking websites.
Indeed, it is always advisable to maintain professional distance
with your students. “Friending” any of them, whether they are
minor or not, could be perceived as suspect and therefore harm
your reputation.
Communication does not need to be sexual in nature to be
deemed inappropriate. Simply offering advice to students on their
love life or their relationship with their parents could become
problematic, even if it is done with the best of intentions.
In provinces such as British Columbia, for example, some school
boards consider it unacceptable for teachers to become “friends”
with their students on social networking websites.
3
Social
Media
As Formidable as they are Useful
Social Media
can Become
Surveillance
Tools…
Your employer’s computer
equipment must be used
exclusively for work. It would be
unwise to access it for personal
purposes because your employer
can retrace your internet
browsing history quite easily.
In addition, since a growing number of
employers rely on Facebook to obtain, among
other things, information about a potential
candidate for an interview or a promotion
or even to confirm absence motives or an
employee’s state of invalidity, it’s always best
to stay vigilant...
How to Protect
Yourself
Did you know that only a quarter
of all active 500 million Facebook
users activate their privacy settings?
Do you belong to this minority? A
check-up seems to be in order…
Here is how you do it:
1) Click on Account and then Privacy Settings.
2) Determine which basic information you wish to share
(e.g. your city, your interests, your education and your work)
and with whom (your Friends Only, Friends of Friends,
Custom or Everyone) by clicking on View Settings in the
Connecting on Facebook section. By default your name,
your profile picture, your sex and your network remain
available to all internet users, whether they subscribe
to Facebook or not.
3) Read the Sharing on Facebook section carefully. As in
the previous section, you need to determine which group
can access your personal information (i.e. your posts,
your photos, your videos, your birthday, your contact
information, information available through friends and
so on). You can then double check your profile changes
by clicking Preview My Profile in the right upper-hand
corner of your screen.
A Few Definitions
Worth Remembering
When configuring your privacy settings, you must
determine who will be able to access your information.
Be cautious. Here are a few definitions worth
remembering:
Friends Only: The friends you have accepted voluntarily.
Friends of Friends: This option allows a larger section of the
public to view your profile. Since the friends of your friends are
not necessarily you friends… Proceed with caution.
Everyone: This option allows all Facebook users as well as
all internet users (even if they don’t subscribe to Facebook)
to access your information. By choosing this, you forsake
any notion of confidentiality.
Customize: This option allows you to determine precisely
who among your friends can or cannot access your
profile content.
Social
Media
As Formidable as they are Useful
4
Are you Featured in a
Photo? Be Careful…
Did you know that it is
possible for a user to tag
people in a picture just by
clicking on them and by
typing their na­mes? Once
this process is completed,
the picture automatically
shows up on the tagged person’s profile
and from then on, will be displayed every
time somebody initiates a search for this
person.
This option may make photo sharing easier but it can also be
harmful. What if a person shares an embarrassing photo of you
or what if it’s a case of mistaken identity?
First of all, you can easily untag the picture. Just open it, look for
your name in the description, and click Untag this photo. In order
to delete the photo, however, you can either ask the author or
report the picture to Facebook by clicking on Report This Photo.
View your Photos section frequently to check its contents.
Click on Photos under your profile picture.
You can also activate the Notification
function if you would like to be
informed via e-mail whenever a
person tags you in a photo.
5
Social
Media
As Formidable as they are Useful
Be Alerted!
You can be notified via e-mail or text
messaging each time other Facebook
users write on your wall, send you
a message or tag you in a picture.
To activate the notification process,
click on Account then on Account
Settings. Select your options
in the Notifications section.
Blocking Users
or Reporting Abuse
To put an end to harassment from other users and to
keep them from contacting you again, go to the Privacy
Settings section. Click on Block Lists, at the bottom of
the page. Now, all you need to do is enter a name or
an e-mail address.
Facebook forbids fake profiles as well as any hateful, menacing,
pornographic, nudity or violence-related content. Here is how
you can signal abuse spotted on:
1) A user’s profile: click on Report/Block
This Person in the left-hand column.
2) A group: On the group page, click on
Report Group in the left-hand column.
3) A photo: Click on the photo and then
on Report This Photo.
4) A comment: Click on Report under
the comment.
Are you a Victim of
Denigration, Identity Theft,
Harassment or Slander?
Make your problems known:
1) Print the incriminating comments as proof.
2) If the denigration, harassment or slander is related to your work (i.e. a student or
a colleague), contact your union to inform them of the situation and notify school
management.
3) If your identity has been stolen, you must file a complaint with the police.
4) You can also signal any abuse to Facebook.
Deactivate or Delete an Account
References
Facebook’s Privacy Policy : facebook.
com/policy.php.
ARPIN, Dominic and, Patrick DION
(2010). Comment devenir une star des
médias sociaux – Maîtriser Facebook et
Twitter comme des pros, Les Éditions
Quebecor, 158 p.
QUAN, Douglas (2010). « Les médias
sociaux peuvent-ils effacer la
démarcation entre l’enseignant et
l’ami ? », Mondes de l’éducation, no 35,
(September), p. 15.
FÉDÉRATION CANADIENNE
DES ENSEIGNANTES ET DES
ENSEIGNANTS. Cyberconseils
à l’intention de la population
enseignante.
ctf-fce.ca/publications/pd_newsletter/
PD2008_Volume7-2french_Article9.pdf.
If you wish to temporarily suspend your Facebook account without deleting your profile,
you can deactivate your account. Your information will be stored and your profile will
become inaccessible to other users. In the Account section, click on Account Settings,
then Settings and Deactivate Account.
The process to permanently delete your account is a bit more tedious:
1) Type the following adress: facebook.com/help/contact.php?show_form=delete_account
2) Enter your password and type the displayed sequence of deformed numbers and letters.
3) Caution: If you want to check if your account has sucessfully been deleted, you must wait
a total of 14 days before connecting to Facebook again with your former user name. If you
don’t, Facebook will assume that you have changed your mind and your account will be
reactivated.
Social
Media
As Formidable as they are Useful
6
Centrale des syndicats du Québec
Head office – Montréal
9405 Sherbrooke St. East
Montréal, Québec H1L 6P3
Phone: 514 356-8888
Sans frais : 1 800 465-0897
Fax: 514 356-9999
website address : csq.qc.net
1011-159
Office in Québec city
320, Saint-Joseph East street, office 100
Québec, Québec G1K 9E7
Phone : 418 649-8888
Sans frais : 1 877 850-0897
Fax : 418 649-8800
February 2011 D-12214A