An Open Letter to Teens regarding Social Media

If there are pictures of you online with red Solo cups about your ears, and empty beer bottles in the foreground, this will likely cost you plenty in the future.

I have been on hiring committees that rejected candidates simply because one of the committee members mentioned seeing something like this about a candidate.

Simply put: that shows clear lack of judgment. Especially if you're under age. Don't be in pictures with too much alcohol in the frame.

If everyone is doing it then we should all be safe, right? I would be really sad if twenty years from now a congressman has to step down for tweeting a photo of himself in his undies. Anthony Weiner was not even naked in the photo!

Why do people think it is OK to pry into other people's personal lives? Why do you care if a candidate is having affairs (unless he is a hypocrite and talks about the sanctity of marriage while having affairs)

Can we talk about the half-life of social media artifacts?

So you went to a wild party, and photos are posted. Why are these photos still visible weeks / months / years afterwards?

Face it: everyone who matters will see the party photos within a couple of days.

Kids need to learn to take that shit down promptly, within days, because there are no upsides after a short period of time.