Call me old fashioned, but I enjoy privacy.
Before I get dressed I close the blinds. When I sit down in front of the television at night, I draw the curtains. I even prefer not to speak on the phone in public places, in case my conversation is overheard.
Yet, when it comes to social networking, I seem to have fallen under a technological trance that leads me to publish my thoughts and activities to anyone with access to the Internet.
I write blogs on my website. I write notes on my Facebook friends' walls. I even send tweets on Twitter.
This form of virtual nakedness is a far cry from the 24/7 webcam phenomenon, where neticens expose themselves through a constant video stream to online strangers. Yet, this relatively new phenomenon of social networking is not without its risks.
One of the most significant problems that can occur is that of cyber-bullying. People have been verbally attacking others for as long as sin has been in the world. Yet, in the former low-tech world, the pain of bullying might have had a long term impact on an individual, but no trace of the harassment would have remained. But not today.
As has been widely reported in the media, a recent incident of cyber-bullying has lead to two girls leaving a well-known Sydney private school in disgrace. Their candid and caustic comments about their peers have travelled far beyond the playground, being broadcast for the entire world to read. An act that would have been painful face to face has now become even more harmful and damaging online.
This episode comes as an important reminder to the many Christians who enjoy the benefits of social networking. Everything you write on a person's Facebook or MySpace wall, or upload as a status update, or type on your blog is indelibly stored on the public record.
A careless and cruel comment is stored forever, with your digital signature writ large.
When we write a comment on a blog, or a person's wall it is all too easy to forget that the world is watching.
It is vital that we all take a deep breath before we hit 'Enter'. Sticks and stones may break our bones, but words will also hurt us, especially when they are recorded for posterity in the great hard disk in the sky.
