woof.
This past week’s strumpette activities and discussion across the public relations blogs put me in mind of the old saying, “on the internet, no one knows you are a dog.” Or do they?
Every move you make online drops a breadcrumb. Enough of your actions online can leave a trail right back to you. If you have the time, or know what you’re doing, it’s possible to cover or obfuscate your tracks. Try to track a piece of spam back to the original ISP in order to lodge a complaint, and you know what I’m talking about. But most people are not versed on the vagaries of hiding yourself online, and likely aren’t even aware of the breadcrumbs they leave behind.
Much of the discussion of anonymous online activity has focused on the comments an employee might make about their own company. I think it’s equally important to consider the comments an employee may make regarding a competitor under the guise of anonymity.
A hypothetical, if you will: Alice works at Food Company X, and thinking she’s quite clever, leaves an anonymous comment on an industry related blog saying ‘Food Company Y has rats in their warehouse‘. Or worse, the employee lies and states they actually work for Food Company Y and that there is a quality issue. Now, when the owner of the blog, upon checking their logs, notes that the negative comment was posted from Food Company X’s internet connection… you can see where this is going to end up. Alice, herself, may never be personally found out, but the company will spend the following days dealing with the fall-out.
Setting aside the litigious issues, having the word ‘LIAR’ stamped large and deep across your Google mask is something you want to avoid.
It’s as simple as this: if you are less than honest online, you will be found out. There are too many eyes watching to be able to hide for long. The more lies you tell the more likely you are to be caught and exposed. No one may know you’re a dog online, but when they see your wagging tail and hear you woof, they’ll figure it out.
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