My Space That Everybody's In

Much has been said in the media lately of the problems with teenagers posting too much information on MySpace.com. It's becoming a major resource for stalkers and worse.

The Internet is taking us to a society where everything is open and transparent. That can be good and it can be very bad. Take Wikipedia for example. Even those who are semi-famous (and in the future perhaps those who are not famous at all) have an entry about them on Wikipedia. If that person has been involved in even one minor scandal, or what someone thinks is a scandal, then that incident appears on that page and there is nothing the person can do to remove it.

No one's reputation is safe anyone. It makes you wonder if laws will be passed in the future that will enable people to seek action against others who post untrue or slanted information about them on the Internet without their consent. Of course will have libel and slander laws, but those were enacted for a paper society with the burden of proof on those who are defamed in order to protect free speech. In an electronic society, that burden may need to shift.