Roy Murphy | Creative Director

It’s no surprise when you think about it, but it appears that Brits are having their dirty secrets aired online. In an age where more than ever before we are being judged by our actions online, it seems that there are still too many people yet to fully grasp the impact of what they do on the internet.

With that in mind, the team at Halpern Cowan commissioned its first Digital Literacy Report for 2009, looking at how UK consumers are engaging with the internet. What we’ve found is that there is a real lack of understanding and basic digital literacy amongst UK consumers when it comes to conducting themselves online.

Most notably for me, the Digital Literacy Report found that one in four (23%) single British adults admitted there are pictures of themselves online that they wouldn’t want their bosses or colleagues to see, whilst over a quarter (28%) of 18-35 year olds admitted they have posted inappropriate content on services such as Facebook and Twitter that they have later gone on to regret.

As a result, it is clear that young professionals out there looking to establish themselves in a career are jeopardising their future chances with a careless approach to what is being posted about them online.

Consider as well that 47 per cent of those asked confessed to searching someone online before meeting with them, be it in professional of personal circumstances, that means that an individual’s misdemeanours are even more likely to found online by the very people they least want to see them.

This is a serious situation. We can expect to see young British professionals losing out in business and in their personal lives unless this apathetic approach to the internet is properly addressed.

Some seem to think, ‘I don’t need to be proactive.’ This is a dangerous attitude to have. As an individual it is easy to search for you online and see what you are doing, so if you have someone posting pictures of you on Facebook doing something you don’t want shared with the world, or you’re posting things on chat sites without a second thought as to its impact, you need to prepare for the consequences.

With more and more people being directly affected by their actions online, getting sacked for an inappropriate picture on Facebook or being judged by friends for a stray comment on Twitter, we need to improve people’s understanding of their consequences online and the impact it can have on their reputation.

Your reputation affects you, what people think about you and your ability to get on in the world accordingly. With a proactive approach the internet can be used to improve your reputation, but internet users must understand that promoting and protecting their online presence is now a major factor in achieving their professional and personal objectives.

Twitter is one of the most successful communication tools on the internet, but what type of people are actually using it? what are their political allegences and preferences? are those who tweet actually able to change anything?

A recent poll conducted by prospect magazine and complied by YouGov gives us a window into where the “twittering classes” as a group sit on the scale of liberal to authoritarian. My gut feel before looking at the stats would err toward the liberal but that’s likely to be coloured by my work within creative, media and technology.-Most of the savvy people within these groups are likely to be more digitally active if not politically and concious of broader social issues such as the environment, culture, the arts, education etc…

The poll found that Twitter users are less liberal than those who vote for the liberal democrats, but more so than either people aged 18-34 or Labour voters

We have already seen twitter users develop a groundswell of support for various issues and causes, through thousands of tweets, blogs and online protests; Iran, The Guardian / Trafigura gagging order. The homophobic rant regarding Stephen Gately in the Daily Mail etc…

These statistics could make interesting reading given that the parties contesting the UK general election in 2010 will rely heavily on the internet to spread their messages to the wider public. The general feeling up until now is that the conservatives and their supporters have been considered to lead the digital communication space. In contrast it is the left wing with a strongly liberal and civil libertarian bias that is leading the way.

To put the whole thing into perspective, one other stat from the research stands out – upto three quarters of the population don’t use twitter and don’t think it much use outside general chit chat and gossip. that is where the first digital battle lies, in changing attitudes toward how and when communication is spread and making people aware of the change in the balance of power. If we can get more people on board to understand the power of social networks as a force for dialogue and for change, then things could get interesting in May 2010

A hung parliament with Labour and the Liberal Democrats forming the next government anyone?

The law courts are beginning to take cyber stalking seriously, social networks need to as well.

A very real and scary stalking case shows how harassment
Has moved in a very real sense to the digital sphere

Facebook and MySpace are places where individuals can hang out, chat and communicate amongst friends and colleagues. But there are also hidden dangers to having your name, age, interests likes and dislikes out there for anyone to see.

Inappropriate contact online is not just an annoyance and simply blocking the individual concerned may not be enough. Unfortunately this is a by product of our information age. At last the law seems to be catching up with the reality.

This story from the London Metro Newspaper tells how A 23 year old man has been given a suspended 12 month prison term and a lifetime restraining order after bombarding a 20 year old college student with aggressive and threatening messages.

It is becoming harder and harder to stave off people who are hell bent, for whatever reason, in harassing us online. The channels are growing quickly and more and more of us are available 24/7 on social networks, blogs, twitter, email and mobile devices.

New rules must be put in place to combat unwanted attention. It is heartening to see the law taking this issue seriously but it is not enough. Facebook, MySpace and the other social network giants need to adhere to a code of conduct, better still, to be leading the initiatives. The ‘carrier’ defence that is left over from the telephone networks is from a bygone age and can no longer hold sway

All of this means individuals need to be aware of their digital footprint, to know that any information that is put online can be used against them as well as for them.

This places us squarely in a conundrum. Do we throw caution to the wind and have an open network of people inviting anyone to connect, join in and communicate with us? Or do we close the digital avenues of communication only letting select known people through our internet filters. A difficult choice in an age of openness.