"Facebook is a cool tool," writes Tracy Mitrano, director of information-technology policy at Cornell University, in an online message to Cornell students. But the popular site, she says, "creates as many obligations as it does opportunities for expression."
In describing those obligations, Ms. Mitrano has drafted an unusually detailed statement—one that could serve as a model for other institutions looking to warn students about the perils of online social networks.
The message includes standard warnings that material posted on Facebook may end up in the hands of campus administrators or potential employers. But Ms. Mitrano also notes a fact that is perhaps less apparent: that posts left on Facebook for no more than a day or two may linger online far longer, in the easily viewable caches kept by search engines like Google.
Cornell officials do not monitor Facebook for content, nor do they give students specific guidelines on what not to post, according to the statement. But since the college is trying to stay out of the way, students must learn to think critically about their online personas, says Ms. Mitrano:
Take a moment to think about how you want to "brand" yourself on the Internet. Almost everyone is more complex of a person than a single label can explain, but for most people it takes time and effort, if not real friendship, to get to know people’s complexities. Don’t give people an excuse to think of you in a single dimensional way.
