Safer Internet Day 2022 is on 8th February. This year, the theme is ‘All fun and games? Exploring respect and relationships online’.
The college would like to take this day as an opportunity to take a moment to consider the importance of maintaining professional boundaries both in your professional and personal online presence, keeping your online reputation in tip top condition in addition to some more general online safety topics and best practices.
Use your social media algorithms to avoid doom scrolling and share pro social content
It doesn’t take long for your social media page to get to know you and understand what kind of content you like – you can use this to your advantage! You have the power to get content that sparks your interests delivered directly to your feed. Then you can pay it forward by sharing your findings with your community, fulfilling a sense of purpose in raising awareness about topics which are important to you and others may be grateful to receive.
Obviously, we are not suggesting you totally spam every single one of your online pal’s inboxes, just if you stumble upon content that may interest them and ignite their curiosity, do a little sharing to raise. In addition to this, light and cheery content can lift people’s moods. Social media, as we all know has its downfalls, but used correctly you can create a positive, safe space to interact with those who matter most to you.
Do the vibe check before you get involved
Try to avoid heavy debates online that feel like they will not have a valuable outcome. Comments can often be misinterpreted and they can become quite damaging if they escalate and the crowd in the discussion are unpleasant.
That said, it is important to have your own values and opinions and are free to explore these (provided they are not from a place of bad intentions). You may see discussions you feel strongly about and want to have an input, but you can see it might go badly. In these instances, to save yourself from getting into a stressful situation, perhaps try to look for more discussions or content surrounding this topic that sits better with your own views to avoid getting dragged into any unpleasant online interactions.
If you have something you want to discuss at depth, speak with someone you know and respect. It is far better an investment to have valuable conversations to build relationships with people who matter to you opposed to strangers online.
Kindness is crucial
Being a kind and supportive person is incredibly valuable for our online reputation, we cannot stress enough how important it is to not be mean online!
Any form of bullying will be investigated and may result in disciplinary action form a college point of view. Students on professionally regulated programmes need to be aware of both the criminal implications and regulatory implications of misuse of social media and cyberbullying.
We all have rights and responsibilities in relation to cyber-bullying and should work positively together to create an environment in which you can learn and develop whilst having fulfilling careers free from harassment and bullying.
Online hate is also an area we can intervene to create safer spaces online, if you see inappropriate material or online hate, it is important we take action, report it or flag it so the moderators have to go in and check the content out.
Share with care!
Be aware that your reputation could be harmed not only by what you share online, but what others share about you, such as friends tagging you in inappropriate posts, photographs, or videos. Ensure your privacy settings are set in a way that you need to approve any content you are tagged in prior to it appearing on your socials. Be aware that your social media friends may also be friends with fellow students, colleagues or family members and therefore they could read your posts if you do not have appropriate privacy settings.
As part of our Privacy Policy, students are not permitted take screen shots during any online session or learning activity. You need permission to take pictures of someone, so it is safest if you continue to adopt this policy in other professional online activity. Be cautious when sharing your screen online, ensure any private/personal information or documents are not shared by mistake.
Appropriate material
Don’t post or share (even privately) inappropriate or offensive material on your social media platforms or with anyone from your college or workplace. Online communication can appear to come with a false sense of anonymity that doesn’t exist when you are talking to someone face to face. Ask yourself, would you share this in person in a professional capacity?
Revenge Porn
Revenge Porn is the illegal act of sharing of private, sexual materials, either photos or videos, of another person, without their consent and with the purpose of causing distress.
The offence applies both online and offline and to images which are shared electronically or in a more traditional way so includes the uploading of images on the internet, sharing by text and e-mail, or showing someone a physical or electronic image. If you are concerned over revenge porn or would like to find out more, information or support can be found here.
Netiquette
The rules of etiquette are just as important in the virtual world as they are in the real world. It is important to recognise that poor netiquette can stick around to haunt you. We have collated some basic rules of netiquette to avoid damaging your reputation along with jeopardising your online and offline relationships. Click here to view our Netiquette Guidance.
If you are being bullied online?
If you are ever bullied online please:
- Do not respond or retaliate to any cyber-bullying incidents. You should report incidents appropriately and seek support from your line manager or a member of College staff.
- Save evidence of the abuse; take screen prints of messages or web pages and record the time and date.
- If the perpetrator is known to be a current student or colleague, the majority of cases will be dealt with through their online policies and procedures.
- The matter may involve reporting the matter to the relevant social networking site if it breaches their terms, seeking guidance from the local authority, legal advisers and involving law enforcement agencies.
- If the comments are threatening or abusive, discriminatory, of a sexual nature or are likely to constitute a hate crime, then you or the College may contact the police. Online harassment is a crime and will be treated as such.
General safe practice points to note
- Consider your own conduct online. Certain behaviour could breach your contract of employment or your professional body regulations and lead to disciplinary action.
- Only discuss certain issues with your close family, friends and colleagues, as you could become a target if you do not have appropriate security and privacy settings in place.
- Use your College email address for college business and your personal email address for your private life; do not mix the two.
- If you are a student, staff member or employer here at the College you can gain access to our free online safety training on our VLE (virtual learning environment) here.
- Further information surrounding e safety at college can be found