In my 7th grade youth development program, we had a discussion on social media a few weeks ago and I was thinking to post about that topic then. Well, with the backlash about recent events with Instagram, and this recent dispute between Twitter & Instagram, I figure I’d share some thought on all this.

We asked them what they thought about social media, the good and the bad. They like the fact that it’s easy to post things that your friends and family can see all at one like photos & videos versus having to text or email each one. They also recognized the benefits of it along with promoting and announcing things about yourself, what you do, how you’re doing, things you’re working on, promoting music and projects, and more. We even delved into the whole concern about appropriate vs. inappropriate posts, photos & videos, as well as safety concerns of Foursquare and letting everyone know where you are in the moment of a post.

One thing that I share with my young people, especially as a techie myself is this simple rule of thumb:

If there is anything that you don’t mind ANYONE, and I mean your parents, the police, the owners of these social media networks, or the whole world to see or use, that you’re thinking to post, then by all means feel free to do so. If there is anyone you wouldn’t want to see or use it, then don’t.

Yes, I’m that kind of person that works with youth that follow me and are friends with me. My pastor, church members, as well as my family members follow me on Twitter and Instagram. There is nothing I wouldn’t want them to see now or 10-20 years from now. I often see people posting sexually explicit pictures, photos of them with drugs or guns, personal thoughts or statuses, or things that they may want to be private. And maybe they are cool with this, but often I find that in time they either regret they posted something and once it’s out there it’s out there…to be seen, copied, downloaded, and used for whatever anyone else can think of.

Even with this privacy policy that Instagram stated about using photos in ads, that they have since withdrawn, I maintain that stance. In a discussion today with a few of my peers, I used the following analogy:

“When you are posting on FB, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, a website, etc…you are leaving your intellectual property on someone else’s site, server and/or service. It’s like leaving your coat, book, purse or whatever at someone else’s house. You may feel like it’s still yours, but since it’s at someone else’s house, they can use it or do what they want with it seeing it’s in their possession.”

Truthfully, I assume the worst case scenario that anyone that can see or has access to my pictures, posts, music, and videos, can and maybe will do whatever they can with them. I’m not saying I want them to, but I never know. So if there is something you want to hold on to and not be seen, and possibly borrowed, used, leaked, manipulated, then don’t put it out there in cyberspace.

I mean how many of us have googled for a picture and saved or copied it for use on a flyer, a profile pic, a background pic, the cover of a paper or something similar? How many have tweeted quotes of others? How many have regrammed Instagram pics? Truthfully, not everyone has some malicious intent or is trying to profit or milk someone else’s talent…or at least I’d like to think.

However, I guess from reading the book ‘1984’ in high school, I’ve always thought about the use of technology. We give people access to seeing and using what we do and we make it convenient for government and companies to do so. With the ease of use of these services to reach more people, we also put ourselves in the position to allow others to use what we share for their own purposes and benefit (i.e. make money, advertise). And it’s not right, but often it is done without your consideration, concern, or even acknowledgment.

In many ways, technology has made things easier for us (to sell, to promote, to share things on a grander scale), but it also has made us more vulnerable to others using our gifts, talents, information, thoughts, and likeness. One can argue it’s the price we pay for convenience, however, we should always consider is that a price we are willing to pay.

Just something to think about, before you share your next post.