Young people, "online life" and work

Today I came across an article about the perils of having an "online life". The main argument put forward by the article - Interns? No Bloggers Need Apply (Anna Bahney, The New York Times) - is that young people may have problems distinguishing between what is public and what is private. That is to say, young people are said to be increasingly, "comfortable with broadcasting nearly every aspect of their lives on the Web".

In contrast, older workers tend to be acutely aware that: "Thou Shalt Not Blab About the Company's Internal Business".

The examples given are a number of interns who have crossed the line when it comes to the, "public airing of workplace shenanigans".

In essence, are young people more likely to be lax when blogging about their work (amongst other things, of course) than their older peers, i.e. based on long established Internet-based habits rather than age alone?

For me it's an interesting way of looking at blogging, i.e. in terms of viewing it as something you've picked up post-formative years, or, as something that is second nature. I'm exaggerating the distinction, but it may be something that gets overlooked when trying to understand current blogger behaviour as well as the influence of blogging in years to come.

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