EDITORIAL - Put technology to good use
OVER the last two decades internet technology has developed at such a rapid rate that one can hardly keep up with it.
It has brought about enormous changes in our lifestyles and how people react to each other. Many people also look to the new forms of technology to enhance their work. Nowadays businesses are using it to market their goods, in many cases by-passing the traditional means of doing so. The creation of new products and services for consumption and many other facets of our lives are indebted to the mighty technological changes which continue to sweep our environment and our societies.
These changes in technology have, among other things, spawned new openings for communication like never seen before.
Dark net
However, while we highlight the good and the benefits of technology, there is a darker side. There are worrying issues which have to be guarded against otherwise societies can be inundated with more bad habits and other negatives, which do nothing for nation building and development of people.
It is noted that social media, while it has its merits and benefits, like most other things, it has been abused. To a large extent, people using this medium have created considerable mischief and to the detriment of many others.
It is in this context that one has to agree with the piece of advice about the use of social media, which nowadays seems to attract more negatives than positives.
The advice came from a University of the West Indies Lecturer to a group of student quite recently.
Last week Dr. Kay Xuereb cautioned secondary school students against posting personal information on social media, even pictures of themselves wearing their school uniforms. We need to be responsible digital citizens, she told them, noting that “whatever you are posting now will always be there for others to see five years from now when you are looking for a job”.
Basically, she warned, employers are going to be able to view “your information and you would always want it to be positive information”. Asking the students how they would feel seeing harmful pictures about themselves online, the lecturer cautioned them against forwarding these type of photos and posts to other persons.
Think before you post
Situations have developed in Barbados where all kinds of disturbing images have been posted on social media. The lewd behaviour at fetes and other gatherings, accident victims, pornography, and the list goes on and on.
It certainly is not too late to request more sober behaviour when it comes to these things. Perhaps the message, along with the coaching and getting individuals to be more responsible, will see some improvements.
The technology is there to be used for productive and educational purposes; including making the workplace more efficient. It is not there to create mischief while causing harm to other people.