Last week, The Lantern reported on a new Facebook application, WISK-IT, that serves to help one clean up their photos on the Web site to prevent others, specifically possible employers, from viewing unflattering or incriminating photos. But photos of underage drinking or slutty outfits aren’t the only filth that can make a person look bad online. Sometimes, trash talking on the Internet is just as harmful to a person’s reputation.

On Saturday a friend of mine suggested that I listen to the new song “Why” by Rascal Flatts, so I logged on to YouTube and found the video.

As I watched, I came to realize that the song was about a young person who had committed suicide and that the singer was trying to figure out what they could have done to make the person know how wonderful they really were.

Below the video were heartfelt and touching comments from people sharing their own stories of loss. One user shared that their classmate had committed suicide in the last week and that the girl, Kali, had been beautiful and would be missed.

The next user to comment wasn’t sharing condolences. The comment simply said, “Kali is a stripper’s name.”

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. How could the user say such a thing about someone who had felt so bad that they took their own life? What sort of gratification could come from that?

Would this person have voiced the same comeback if they had overheard the story on the bus or in line at Starbucks?

No.

The only reason they felt it was OK to say was because they could hide behind the username “Ballmusk.”

When I was younger, my mom caught me saying something I shouldn’t have in an AOL chat, and she said something that I have always tried to remember. She told me that if it’s easier to say something in an Instant Message or text message, then it probably shouldn’t be said.

What she was trying to tell me was that before I ever said anything that might be hurtful about or to anyone, I should consider whether I would say it to someone in person, face-to-face.

If the answer is no, then don’t say it online either.

With YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and so many other forms of new media and Web-based communication, it is easy to forget that usernames represent real people and that comments that are aimed at said usernames are really pointed directly a person with feelings. It is easy to hide behind a computer screen with a keyboard and say something defamatory, racist or sexist.

I have been a perpetrator and a victim of this act of stupidity and it is just that: stupid.

Even though there is an application that will warn you when your photos are getting out of control, there isn’t one that can warn you when your words are about to get out of control. The only thing that can do that is your own conscience. So the next time you are logged on as “SupRStud69” or “QTgurl,” think about whether “John” or “Melissa” would say the same thing face-to-face.