Randy Cohen, "the Ethicist" for the New York Times, responding to an educator's inquiry about Facebook ethics, wrote:
"...when these students gave her access to their Facebook pages, they waived their right to privacy. But that's not how many kids see it. To them, Facebook and the like occupy some weird twilight zone between public and private information, rather like a diary left on the kitchen table."
I'm not sure about the diary analogy. My daughter keeps a diary, but she's at an age where I would not be shocked by its contents (and in fact, I wouldn't look at it any way.) I believe we should get to know our children directly, and not by "hanging around with their friends" which might be a better Facebook analogy for parents.
And that's the crux of it. Facebook updates (this varies with prvacy settings) are easily seen by friends, parents, educators and perhaps more importantly, law enforcement and potential employers. So no analogy other than "sending a full written report to the agency of your choice" really works here. Any other is clever, and perhaps stimulates conversation, but can lead to some serious online faux pas.
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