lol...OMG!: What Every Student Needs to Know About Online Reputation Management, Digital Citizenship and Cyberbullying Paperback – September 27, 2011

Lol . . . OMG!, Matt Ivester's new book specifically for students about managing online reputation and digital citizenship, is a must read for college and high school students. Ivester is to the point, straightforward and informed about his subject and talks directly to students about navigating school/college in the digital age. Students today spend numerous hours connected and online - via laptop, smart phone and other digital devices doing homework, researching, communicating, and socializing. They are constantly presented with opportunities to share personal information and create content. In "Digital is Different," Ivester conveys the permanence, access, lack of control over content, replicability, speed and pervasiveness that make online conduct challenging for students to navigate. He offers recent stories about college students who have shared content online in ways that substantially harmed their lives and reputations and the lives and reputations of others, including incidents at Duke, Rutgers and UCLA. But he also draws attention to smaller cases - thoughtless "Likes" or online comments that end up in social media investigations of potential employees - or photos of questionable (or illegal) behavior that end up accessible to a wider audience than a student intends.Ivester isn't preachy or dogmatic - instead, in "Becoming a Conscious Creator of Content," he gives students a series of questions to consider: "Why are you doing this [sharing info online]? Is now the right time? Where is your line between public and private? And How controversial do you want to be?" - and he encourages them to answer those questions while considering the importance and power of a first impression, the very broad audience for social networking profiles, and the permanence of our digital footprints.There are an increasing number of resources and materials out there for parents regarding digital citizenship and privacy, but there are far fewer resources specifically written for a student audience. Here, the tone is right and the presentation engaging for young adults. Ultimately, Ivester is informing students and giving them the tools to think carefully about the ways they interact and act online, and to exercise good judgment.I would also recommend this book for parents and educators. It is a quick read and hits the high points - and it is important for parents to understand the challenges and privacy risks their kids are facing in the digital world. For high schools that have not yet been able to incorporate this material into their curricula, this book would be a great addition to orientation and technology programs - it will provoke excellent discussion among students and raise awareness about privacy, reputation, and digital citizenship issues.

Parents who have children who have an internet presence should read this. Anyone who is in college should read this. Anyone who wants to have a job in the future should read this.This author takes what he learned as an owner of a website and puts that information out for everyone. What you do online, the person you are online is out there for everyone to see and judge. And it may cost you a job, friends, boyfriends and more. And once it is out there; you can't really call back what you have put out there online.He says most people do something thinking 'how funny' LOL. And then when they find out the repercussions they say "OMGosh!" Most people do not think about what they are saying and how they are acting online. And as he was very clear- anonymous is not invisible, untrackable you- people can and will find out that it was you who posted some of the nonsense you posted.And if you did do something LOL OMGosh? Then he provides some advice for you about how to fix the situation the best you can. Apologize, take it down, ask others to take it down, and so on.If you tie this book into the some of the latest research about the Teenage Mind (see the January 2012 National Geographic or PBS Frontline The Teen Mind) you will be able to help them BEFORE they do something stupid that might ruin their future prospects.I have rated this four stars for two reasons.1. I would have liked to have seen him include some of the current research out now about the teenage brain and how that relates to what teens do online. He glossed over some of this but his book would have more authority (I believe) had he included some of this information. and2. I would have liked him to include a chapter, even if it were brief, about how to protect your identity online. Of course other books have addressed this in depth. But it ties right into the LOL OMGosh thought process and the teenage/ college behavior. You pass out your first name, tell the person the high school you went to and next thing you know- some strange man is following you home from school. A short paragraph restating some of this information would have made this book much more valuable in that you could hand it to a young teen and say 'read this, think about this, let's talk about this' and a lot of the information you need/want them to know would be in one place.Despite those two things, this is an important book. It is well worth everyone reading.Well worth every penny.Enjoy.

The title says it all. The book is by the creator of JuicyCampus.com, a "free speech" gossip site where people could post what they wanted without accountability, and which not surprisingly got quickly out of control. People who post something that seems funny at the time but then turns into a nightmare. Sometimes a never-ending nightmare. The casual comment that comes back to cause great pain, the indiscreet photograph that you never expected would make you a laughing stock or cost you your job, lies and truth taken out of context that snowball out of control.The author has 2 versions of this book, one for college age folk and 1 for the younger crowd. Ivester doesn't lecture. He gives real life examples that ring true with real people. He has the statistics, but more than most books I have read he appeals to the common sense that many of us forget to exercise, and which parents often do not believe exists. I have used examples in conversations with younger adults to get them to stop and think before they act, (they can, you know) and with parents to help them understand how quickly something small can become dangerous once it is out there where millions can see it. And it is an easy and interesting read to boot.