This morning I received a release introducing me to a digital media phenomenon I’d not heard of before — digital tattoo. It refers to the information we post online, on Facebook, Linkedin et al, that may be embarrassing if viewed by polite company and which is indelible. It’s the digital equivalent of the picture of a swallow on one’s neck.
According to research conducted by OpinionMatters, 35 per cent of under-25s don’t care about what information about themselves they post online. Just over a third regret doing so and wish this data — such as personal information and pictures — could be erased.
The research was sponsored by security software company Symantec under the headline ‘Twenty-Somethings Regret Their Digital Tattoo’. Given the research found two in three of the respondents said they posted personal photos online, it’s clear most of them don’t regret anything of the sort.
The way the research is communicated by this company is a little alarmist. Four out of five of the under-25s in the survey uploaded their post-code. I can’t count the number of times I’ve done that, searching for stores, planning journeys or registering for email alerts.
However, although there is blatant band-wagon jumping going on here, keeping your digital tattoo as small and discrete as possible is something we all should be aware of whenever we are online.
(Interestingly, even at the revival of tattooing in Western Europe in the late 1700s, they were used against their wearers. The mutineers of the Bounty were formerly identified by their tattoos. Fletcher Christian had a black band tattooed across his bottom, for reasons I can’t quite fathom.)
While stalking people online is viewed with disgust if perpetrated by a private individual — and rightly so — there’s no equivalent sanction if an employer uses the same practice on one of their staff, or applicant for a job. So, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t become a widespread practice. As successive generations become more familiar with the dangers and delights of social media, knowing what personal information to make public will become second nature.
In the meantime, it’s clear a great many people could benefit from a more formal education in the risks they run, displaying their digital tattoos to the world.
Another point of interest is the growing number of Gen-Xers and Baby Boomers also starting to use social media sites and who very probably know even less about the hazards than their younger digital colleagues.
Perhaps HR departments in all businesses should adopt a policy of training all staff in ways to maintain their digital profile, to head off any unpleasant digital tattoo display before it occurs.
What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, too. It may not be long before a successful applicant writes back to the manager, in response to a job offer, saying: “I was about to accept your offer, but I saw the photos of your last office party on flickr and well, I think you are all a bit weird, so I won’t be taking it up.”
(Pic: Binder.donedat cc2.0)
