The Ethics of Social Media

In the world of politics, it is said that policy is always about 10-20 years behind the latest technological advances.  I'd like to expand this idea by saying that, for the professional working population, ethics and etiquette are always about 10-20 years behind the latest advances.  More and more now we see news stories about social media, to the likes of employers requesting Facebook passwords or social media background checks.  Ever more present is the use of online media in advertising campaigns, both for business and politics.  And with this rise, we see now more than ever the rise of disputes, feuds, and general mishaps over social media antics.  The Internet as we know it has given more people the power to project their voice than ever before in the history of humanity, and it is both astonishing and beautiful.  However, like with all technology, arises with it a class of people who stand upon the dividing line between the Old World and New, and with them comes the controversy.  People who are "in the know" do something which confuses or upsets someone who isn't, and as a result they lash out and attempt to return to a relative zone of comfort.  Now, on social media, I would go out on a limb and say that I am a sort of Troy personality.  This isn't meant as some kind of brag or boast, but rather just a statement of facts.  I am well known in and around the circles of Troy High School, both on and offline.  And I will admit that I do sometimes say and do things, both on and offline, that are crass, crude, childish, unprofessional, and downright disrespectful.  But in two recent incidences of this social media divide, I feel as if I have been both misinterpreted in my words and actions, and have as a result been unnecessarily ostracized for what I do and say.  In my quick explanation, I will not mention anyone specific, nor will I try to take the blame entirely off of me.  In the end, what I have said and done is my fault, and the consequences of those must be had.  However, I do feel that, to an extent, the reaction made to this was entirely unnecessary.
Over the past three years, I and some close acquaintances have been involved in a music project/social experiment of sorts.  We started a band with the sole intention of being the worst band in existence.  Poor recording fidelity, production, musicianship, writing, the whole nine yards.  Over the years, we wrote and recorded a good catalog of our joke music, intended for the ears of only our friends, and maybe the occasional innocent bystander on the Internet who stumbled into our realm.  It was a good time.  Recently, however, our musical well has run dry, and we have decided to end our little expedition into the realm of comically bad music.  To end it, we figured, "Hey, why not advertise ourselves/our end in a public space? That sounds like fun"
And it totally was.
In our advertising, both through us and our friends who are not directly affiliated with the project, we never once directly requested or implied that anyone should actually go to look us up online and give us a good ole' spin.  I think that's an important distinction, but maybe I'm just half-crazy. Oh well. A parent did decide, however, to look us up, and after listening to a few of our finer selections, became mildly upset.  They responded by writing several anonymous letters, including the director of the activity, the principle, and the local board of education, asking for our justice to be served.  Luckily for us, Tinker vs. Des Moines happened, and no action was pursued.  Those involved deemed it as not worth their time to pursue us for something that they did not consider to be wrong. Either that, or they understood the possible legal repercussions of taking action against us for something done outside of school grounds and time, in which we never did anything to purposely harm the integrity of our peers. I see this as a good allusion to modern life and social media, where perhaps a celebrity or politician might see something about them that, without the Internet, would go unnoticed, and react to it in a way that both unnecessary and improper.  The result of this can be a lot of publicity for both parties, and never is any of it very good.
This isn't my most recent spectacle of the horrors of social media in it's youth, but out of respect for time I will not explain it.  However, note that my stance on it is pretty identical to the one above, though more fitting for the circumstances at hand.
If you have any specific questions, feel free to talk to me about it openly come May 25th