The new digital paparazzi

Before parents and adults judge the actions of their children or of other young people, they should think back to what compromising images of themselves may have been available on the Internet if digital cameras had been around when they were growing up.

However, despite the hypocrisy, teenagers and young adults - especially if they are thrust into the public sphere like Stephanie Rice - are not held up to the standards or the conception of privacy of their own generation, but that of their parents.

It is the therefore prudent that all of us are cognisant of our own digital footprint - the amount of information that is available about us online.

We can all control the amount of information we disclose about ourselves online and we should do so cautiously. Sites like Facebook or MySpace also have privacy settings that allow the user to control exactly who sees what. If Stephanie Rice had limited her profile only to “friends” and had not left it open to the world at large, she most likely would not have been embarrassed.

If you come across information about yourself online that you do not like, email or message whoever posted it to remove that information. In most cases, that person will happily do so. If they won’t your best option is usually to post a comment or reply to that information or photo to place it in its proper context.

If you monitor your digital footprint and exercise common sense when posting information and images online, you should avoid being embarrassed at some later point in time.

As for finding what the new digital paparazzi are up to, there is nothing wrong with Googling yourself. You might be surprised what you find.