From UMassWiki

Your writing is yours

There is a law designed to protect you from improper disclosure of your grades under the assumption that public knowledge of evaluations of your academic work can hurt you in the long run. The University invests considerable energy making sure they are in compliance with the Family Educational Rights to Privacy Act. The Writing Department is also worried that your own academic work could hurt you - either unintentionally (for instance, a propective employer does a google search on you and finds an essay you wrote in support of legalizing marijuana) or maliciously (someone who wants to harm you collects all "the dirt" they can find - such as offcolor jokes and sexual innuendos).

All the more reason, I say, for you to learn how to manage your image through the written word. What happens when your audience is larger than one person (the teacher)? How can you anticipate the range of ways people may read your words, and then use this knowledge to learn to choose carefully and precisely the words that are closest to what you want to convey? How do you want people to understand your personality and character through the way you use written words and visual images? Do you even know how you "come across" online? By using the online technology of a wiki and weblogs, this class is structured to guide you through a process of critical thinking and serious development that will improve your writing in all contexts. Because so much writing occurs today in mediated formats (instant messaging, email, facebook, myspace, comments to youtube, text messaging), it is vital that you learn the skills of representing yourself well to people who do not even know who you are.