Online Regrets?

Brendan Woodage - CyberSmarties Administrator
Brendan Woodage

This week I would like to ask you a simple question. A question that no one ever really asks themselves, but a question I think must be asked every once in a while.

The Question is: If you were to look back on your Social Media Profiles in 10 years time, would you be happy with what you see.

I don’t mean your appearance, or whether you’re the most shared or retweeted person you know. I mean you as a person, and the persona that you portray.

The reason why I’m asking you is because, like everyone my age (22), I spend a lot of my time browsing on social media, endlessly flicking through my feed, and as often as I do, I see people I’d know, their opinions, content that they’ve shared or retweeted, and I find I keep asking myself the same question. Will they regret or be embarrassed by that in 10 years.

We all know the internet never forgets. Famous Celebrities like Tom Hardy and Taylor Swift have both fallen victim to their fans unearthing their old Myspace accounts. Accounts that they once held before they became household names. Accounts that reveal far more about their personalities, and opinions than you’d ever learn from an interview, and that they might be embarrassed about. And it’s not just celebrities who might look back and feel embarrassed. I grew up in the Bebo era, and I know that the way I spoke back then, would make me question my ability to speak English now. “I thought dat writin lyk dis ws so cool bck den tho”….

But the thing is, that was open social media. A social media that not only my age group and I were on, but a network that was open to any age group, and to anyone. And looking back, it saddens me that there wasn’t a social network that was for my age group, and ONLY for my age group. One that when you grow up, you’re profile is gone forever. One that taught and prepared me for the next network that I became a member of.

That is why I love CyberSmarties. We provide kids with a space that is not only safe and educational for them, but allows them to be kids, to explore, to learn and to only be surrounded by kids of their own age, and that when they grow up and move on to the next social media, they won’t have the fear of having friends, family or future employers discovering a profile from their youth that doesn’t reflect the person they’ve become.

3 thoughts on “Online Regrets?”

  1. Very True, I just turned 19, And i began during the Bebo Era, I made my first Bebo page before i had my first phone, i must have been only 10 or 11. First of all if you are reading this…how good was Bebo? it was amazing. But youre right…even when i look back 2-3-4 years on my current Facebook i look at myself and think “was that really what i said”…”did i really type like that”…I must have shared a million videos of Ronaldinho on Facebook for a whole year haha…But yeah…i regret many many things of my past online…

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