these variances between website policies, it is generally understood that offensive or defamatory
content should be removed once discovered and brought to the attention of the appropriate managers.
Even though offensive content may be removed from these websites once discovered, this does not
mean that it is expunged from the Internet. Search engines, such as Google and Yahoo, store snapshots
of billions of websites in their databases to provide fast search results. Consequently, offensive content
from these websites may get caught and stored in these databases. As a practical matter, search engines
must also be contacted directly in order to have all of the offending content removed from the Internet.
What you can do:
Monitor your online reputation. Action can be taken quickly to remove the offending content. Also,
be mindful of your “online footprint” and carefully consider the information and pictures you post on
the Internet so that you can minimize the chances that someone will use your own information and/or
pictures to harass you.
Periodically search your own name in various search engines to ensure nothing offensive or defamatory
is posted on some or all of the following websites:
O
www.google.com
O
www.yahoo.com
O
www.msn.com
O
www.search.com
O
www.live.com
O
www.webcrawler.com (this site searches several different services at once)
O
www.ratemyteacher.com
O
www.youtube.com
O
www.flickr.com
O
www.facebook.com
O
www.myspace.com
If you find something offensive and/or potentially defamatory, note the date, time, and web address
(i.e. http://www.ratemyteacher.com/school/teacher/...) of the offending web page, along with any other
potentially useful information.
Contact your ETFO local president or staff in PRS for additional advice
Protect your “online footprint” by minimizing the amount of personal information you publish about
yourself on the Internet:
O check your privacy settings on Facebook, MySpace, MSN Messenger or any other similar service
that you use to ensure your page can be accessed by only those whom you have invited;
O DO NOT invite or add students to your Facebook, MySpace, MSN Messenger, or similar service;
O review the pictures of yourself posted on the Internet; if you do not want your students or
employer to see a certain picture or series of pictures, have them removed;
O minimize the amount of personal information you give to various online services; ask yourself,
“do I need to give my friend list I phone number I e-mail address to this service?”;
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