3 ms·

I wish I had just a couple of photographs of my misspent youth (15 to 20 / 1994 to 1999). I spent a lot of time socialising/drinking/partying with a big social

I wish I had just a couple of photographs of my misspent youth (15 to 20 / 1994 to 1999). I spent a lot of time socialising/drinking/partying with a big social group of friends. Pre-digital era, nobody ever took a picture. With hindsight I should have taken just a few to reminisce with in my old age.

pixl97 11y ago
Maybe the days of your dumb (possibly illegal) youthful times should disappear and not follow you your entire life?
- ceejayoz 11y ago
  That shift happened so rapidly and so completely that it's not going to wind up being a big issue, I think.
  - J-dawg 11y ago
    Do you really think so? I wish I had your optimism. I'm pretty sure that in 5-10 years the tabloid press will do their best to dredge up the old social media photos of anyone in the public eye, and turn it into 'journalism' with their usual tone of faux-outrage. And people will still keep coming back and giving pageviews to the Daily Mail. I really hope I'm wrong and you're right, and the explosion of online sharing will mean we're all more accepting of the fact that people do silly things when they're young which shouldn't be held against them forever. I just can't see it happening.
    - ceejayoz 11y ago
      The response to "celebrity X has a sex tape" is already "meh, so what? I've got a few too". The same thing has happened with drug use - in my lifetime we've gone from Clinton saying "I tried pot, but of course I didn't inhale it" to an understanding that it's unremarkable to have smoked some marijuana in early adulthood. When the kids today growing up with social media from childhood start applying for jobs and running for office, it'll be hard to find candidates without something you can find... and you'll probably be wondering if they're secretly a serial killer with such a clean record.

3 ms·

I wish I had just a couple of photographs of my misspent youth (15 to 20 / 1994 to 1999). I spent a lot of time socialising/drinking/partying with a big social

by kerrsclyde 11y ago

pixl97 11y ago
Maybe the days of your dumb (possibly illegal) youthful times should disappear and not follow you your entire life?
- ceejayoz 11y ago
  That shift happened so rapidly and so completely that it's not going to wind up being a big issue, I think.
  - J-dawg 11y ago
    Do you really think so? I wish I had your optimism. I'm pretty sure that in 5-10 years the tabloid press will do their best to dredge up the old social media photos of anyone in the public eye, and turn it into 'journalism' with their usual tone of faux-outrage. And people will still keep coming back and giving pageviews to the Daily Mail. I really hope I'm wrong and you're right, and the explosion of online sharing will mean we're all more accepting of the fact that people do silly things when they're young which shouldn't be held against them forever. I just can't see it happening.
    - ceejayoz 11y ago
      The response to "celebrity X has a sex tape" is already "meh, so what? I've got a few too". The same thing has happened with drug use - in my lifetime we've gone from Clinton saying "I tried pot, but of course I didn't inhale it" to an understanding that it's unremarkable to have smoked some marijuana in early adulthood. When the kids today growing up with social media from childhood start applying for jobs and running for office, it'll be hard to find candidates without something you can find... and you'll probably be wondering if they're secretly a serial killer with such a clean record.