Facebook as Witness to Crime

You already face the big debate “to post or not to post” photos and other items, in fear of missing out on a job opportunity, but who knew that you shouldn’t put up pictures of yourself engaged in illegal activity? Forgive the sarcasm, but—gasp—who would have thought?

It seems like common sense, but it seems some have skipped that lesson. While it surely happens at many universities, the University of Iowa’s newspaper reports two incidents where school officials used Facebook to find a guilty party.

While drinking is often associated with college, the reality is that only about 25% of students that attend undergraduate schools are legally able to drink. One underage girl posted pictures of her and her friends drinking for only about a half hour, and then decided to take them down. But that was enough time for a monitor to report Christine Augspurger and send her to an alcohol education class. So if you are an under-classmen, keep the liquor bottles out of your pictures—and use your best judgment about whether you want to keep the virtual booze application.

The other suspect posted photos of graffiti he created around campus and now faces charges of fourth-degree criminal mischief. The damages will cost him between $200 to $500. Since getting caught, Greg Soukup has changed his privacy settings—smart boy.

The University of Iowa’s head of Residential Life says that the administration won’t be stalking you via Facebook, but if they see something illegal, they’re gonna use it. So c’mon, keep your Facebook profile under control. After all, while you may not want your information to keep you from getting a job, you definitely want it to keep you out of jail. [The Daily Iowan]