Story Ideas for Story Package #2

Topic: Cyber Security and Internet Privacy

Idea #1:
To research and write the story of how employers are increasingly using social networking websites (facebook, myspace, twitter, youtube- to name a few) in order to "check out" potential employees and the attitude of graduating seniors about whether they should make their content private or take it off of the internet all together.. if that's even possible. This story is pertinent now because in little over a month many people will be graduating and looking for jobs, and right now many of those people are beginning their job search. This story is interesting because it could mean the difference between you being hired or not.. even though you may not be publicizing anything out of the ordinary for college students, the fact that it is published could be enough to jeapordize your success. On the other hand, publishing stuff that will cast you in a positive light could really help you out. Check out this article to see what I'm talking about.

Idea # 2:
Digital Privacy: how much is too much? Should people be monitoring the use of teens on the internet? Cyber-bullying is a new fad... and it's spinning out of control. On January 14th of this year, Phoebe Prince, who had recently moved from Ireland to South Hadley, committed suicide in an apparent effort to escape the bullying of her peers, much of which was centered online. This story is interesting now because 9 teens were just charged by the Massachusetts prosecutor for 'unrelenting' bullying, 2 of the 9 charged with statutory rape. This is a very serious situation. Its not the first time someone has committed suicide in the wake of online bullying. This article published today highlights the problem in South Hadley, but the problem is all over the internet, which is all over the world. What should be done to help prevent this from happening again?