A problem though is some not grasping the full reach of social networks yet.
I've always said if your job involves personal branding or you can be seen as the face of something... social networks can be your biggest friend or enemy. I don't care if you are weapons dealer that supplies to the worst of the world, who are wanted by the Hague. Crap you say today will be around somewhere years from now, what you said as on 'off color' joke amongst friends years ago is saved for today.
Social networks are the biggest bag of receipts, and someone will dig thru that bag eventually.
If one wants to truly atone or make right, the time to do it, is BEFORE you get caught for those things.
When you start shining in the public eye, make your PR person proud and start that redemption tour THEN. Going on the redemption tour AFTER you get busted, seeing NOW what you did or said hurt others is just seen as mouth noises. Being apologetic AFTER you get booted from a job, is a bit late to have a mea culpa. One gets sacked by a company for such a past, because they either were blindsided and/or they are covering their own butts.
As our society becomes more sensitive to the issues of people everyday, the time for owning up to being a relic of the past is BEFORE someone digs up that relic. That same sensitivity we are gaining for others can certainly spare some sensitivity for those who are making the effort to genuinely grow from who they were, along with the rest of us.
