Courtesy of Intel’s sponsorship, the book lol…OMG!: What Every Student Needs To Know About Online Reputation Management, Digital Citizenship, and Cyberbullying is being given away for free in honor of Data Privacy Day this weekend. You can get the Kindle version of the book free January 27th through the 30th from Amazon. Even if you don’t own a Kindle, you can “purchase” the book and read it through any of the Kindle apps or in your browser with the Kindle Cloud Reader.
The book lol…OMG! comes from Matt Ivester, founder of the now closed JuicyCampus.com. The title summarizes his experience with the site which enabled the public posting of anonymous gossip from over 60 different college campuses. He shares his lessons learned from the site which expanded beyond expectation and, at the time, took anonymous posting, censorship, and user-generated content to a new level.
lol…OMG! provides a cautionary look at the many ways that today’s students are experiencing the unanticipated negative consequences of their digital decisions from lost job opportunities and denied college and graduate school admissions to full-blown national scandals. It also examines how technology is allowing students to bully one another in new and disturbing ways, and why students are often crueler online than in person. By using real-life case studies and offering actionable strategies and best practices, this book empowers students to clean up and maintain a positive online presence, and to become responsible digital citizens.
JuicyCampus closed in 2009 with advertisement revenue and investment capital drying up with the economic recession. Mr. Ivester calls the turning point a “reset”. He didn’t feel he could just shut the website down as he had employees he felt responsible for and his youth blinded him to his inability to rein in the monster that was being created. The book was written to share the education on managing content online besides learning the hard way with painful experiences. When creating and sharing content online has never been faster and easier, the book provides a lesson more need to be aware of.
Thank you, Intel, for sponsoring lol…OMG! to make it free (normally $9.99).