How easy do Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites make cheating? Very Easy.
Or Not.
I’ve been telling clients for years that their use of public or semi-public resources need to be controlled and careful. I’ve been telling my kids that for just as long; years ago I warned my two oldest sons (both college age) about the dangers of putting up compromising pictures of themselves on MySpace, for example, and had the sentiment echoed by the Athletic Director of a major Division I University.
And now, cheating has been elevated to a new level of brazenness. Thank you, Facebook, Tip o’ the hat, Twitter.
Imagine sitting in an exam, exchanging notes with a friend. Imagine your professor had specifically warned you against Twitter or Facebook use before the test began (as though she should need to!). Imagine you were holding your Smartphone, using it during a test (REALLY?) and your professor reminded you that looking up information or exchanging information with others during the test was cheating.
As frightening as all of those might seem, imagine the complete disrespect and lack of thought that exists when you post on Facebook, a time-stamp is created, your profile is set to ‘public’ so anyone can see it, and then when accused of cheating you try to claim that you did nothing wrong.
I have nothing else to say on this topic.
