When Online Sharing Goes too Far

For the love of Perez, there are some things the Internet just shouldn’t be used for. And near the top of that list is posting your own death announcement. But that’s what Christian Mogensen did before he shot his wife and then himself on Sunday night.

After the jump, we lay forth some other items that should not find their way on to the Internet.

Funeral liveblogs
Earlier this month, Adam Reilly linked to a controversy in Colorado. The Rocky Mountain News “tweeted” the funeral of a 3-year-old boy who’d been killed in a car accident. Lines like “family members shovel earth into grave” and “people again are sobbing” make the tragedy a little too immediate.

Not only that, but it could lead to people using Twitter during childbirth. “He’s crowning!!” are words we never wish to read on a blog. (Even though we just wrote them. But we’re not giving birth. We promise.)

The pre-dumping Facebook status change
Breaking up is hard to do. But don’t wuss out and change your status to “single” in the hopes that your significant other will get the hint. This is especially egregious when your status is currently set to “married.”

Visually documenting illnesses
It’s one thing to blog about your issues with an STD in the abstract. But whenever a Flickr account gets involved, you’re sharing too much.