Year of Facebook

This year could well be the year of Facebook. Since opening up to the public in September last year, this particular social networking revolution has built up a following of over 55 million active users, and interestingly enough, nearly two thirds of them are female. But alarm bells started ringing last week with research data showing that millions of young members of social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace could have their career prospects severely dented because of compromising personal details posted on those websites.

It is not just about posting details of inappropriate personal details on the internet, but simply as a result of belonging to a particular group or supporting a particular cause could make a potential employer think twice before hiring you. Nearly 70% of those who were surveyed under the study confessed that they were unconcerned that their personal profile can be viewed by strangers, yet many of them also admitted that they would not want a potential employer to conduct an internet search on them unless they could first remove content from social networking sites.

More than half of those interviewed said that parts of their personal profile on their online pages were specifically made public to attract new people.

But it is not just employers who browse through profiles on social networking sites. The level of detail left on the sites make them goldmines for identity fraudsters.

It is now common practice for most employers to "Google" the name of a potential employee. These not only bring up social network profiles, but just about any scrap on information with the name of the applicant (or anyone else who has got the same name) attached to it. Blogs and forums are the second most common source of information on the Internet about individuals.

The point is that, as much as the Internet is a medium that fosters free speech, it cannot offer anyone any immunity from the consequences of what they say.

Whatever the consequences of what you say on the Internet may be, it is wise to be prudent and take every measure to protect your privacy because privacy is precious.

When using social networking sites, choose sites that give you plenty of control over who can find your profile and how much information they can see. Read privacy policies and understand how these sites will use your details.

Don't allow people to work out your “real life” location such as your place and hours of work. Your personal safety off-line could be affected by what you tell people online.

Change your passwords regularly and don't use obvious words like your pet's name and also don't use the same passwords on social networking sites as you do for things like internet banking. And when you post your thoughts, pictures of your exploits or comment on other people's exploits, just be careful not to post anything that you might be ashamed of a few years down the line.