What happens to seemingly intelligent people when it comes to writing e-mails or engaging in any kind of electronic communications? They say and do things they would tell their employees, colleagues, friends, and loved ones never to do. And they get caught. And the consequences can be (and have been) devastating.<\/p>\n
Here are just a few of the more egregious examples:<\/p>\n
Anthony Weiner:<\/strong> New York politician. Sexting. Need I say more?<\/p>\n General David Petraeus: He got caught exchanging e-mails with his lover. The affair and the e-mails were bad enough, but they also tried to beat the e-mail system by ensuring he and she never actually sent an e-mail. Instead they created a bogus e-mail account in which they penned a missive and stored it as a draft. Then the partner would access the e-mail account and be able to read the draft without it ever actually having been sent. Clever. But \u201cIf Something Can Go Wrong It Will\u201d Murphy got them, and Petraeus lost his job as CIA director and saw his reputation tarnished.<\/p>\n Nancy Sebring<\/strong>: She was a Des Moines, IA, school system superintendent until a Freedom of Information request opened her e-mail to the scrutiny of the press. Among the e-mails on her work computer were personal e-mails of a spicy nature she sent to her boyfriend. Not only did she lose her job, she lost the opportunity to become the superintendent of the Omaha, NE, school system.<\/p>\n James Andrews:<\/strong> While in Memphis for a meeting with a large corporate client, the VP for Ketchum PR tweeted: \u201cTrue confession, but I\u2019m in one of those towns where I scratch my head and say, \u2018I would die if I had to live here!\u2019\u201d Try explaining that to your client. Embarrassing, to say the least.<\/p>\n Selfies, e-mails, tweets\u2014they\u2019re all forms of electronic communication that share one immutable fact: They are not private means of communicating. They are public forms of communication. As such, they can and\u2014at the worst possible time, as these individuals can attest\u2014 will be seen by lots of people with unexpected and, in some cases, disastrous outcomes.<\/p>\n What, you may ask, is the way to avoid the trouble these people and countless others have found themselves in? Follow The Bulletin Board Rule:<\/p>\n