Guaranteed: This post will make you think before you put information into social network profiles.



I often wonder why people put so much personal information into their social networking profiles -- from their actual birthday to their favorite books and movies. Forget privacy, we simply don't have any. And if you were going to comment that this is what we get for spending so much time online, try reading the privacy agreement on your credit card, or your medical insurance.
Everything online is there forever in one form or another. Think before you add another stupid sharing app - would I want a potential client to see this? Would I want my family to see this? Would I want this on the first page of the newspaper? If the answer to any of these questions is "no", don't put a photo from a wild party, account of your breakup, etc, etc., online.
And remember, reporters looking for information about you will surely look to see if you're on MySpace, etc.
Everything you say can come back to haunt you. Online, everything is forever. Comments you make on blogs, in forums, in social media groups, etc. will all show up in searches on your name. Think twice before you hit "submit" or "send."
There IS such a thing as bad publicity.
Related:
- How to Protect Yourself From Being Misquoted
- Personal Data of Millions Lost in U.K. Security Breach
- Beware the Stealth Interview
- Facebook's Tracking of User Activity Riles Privacy Advocates, Members

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

B.L. Ochman is a social media marketing strategist for S&P 500 companies, including McGraw Hill, IBM, Cendant, and American Greetings. She publishes What's Next Blog and Ethics Crisis, where readers can confess their worst ethics transgressions and others can rate them on a scale of one to ten. She also blogs for MarketingProfs Daily Fix Blog.