The Dangers of Facebook

Finding and making friends online using social networking Web sites such as MySpace and Facebook has almost become a rite of passage. Students at universities around the world chronicle their lives by building online profiles and sharing personal information, photographs, and opinions in order to connect with new people. If you use one of these sites to stay in touch, to express yourself openly, and to find like-minded people, that’s great. Just be sure you stay smart and safe in the process.

This includes knowing what Facebook and other social networking sites intend to do with your profiles. In 2007, Facebook enabled user profiles to become searchable through its new Public Search Listings. If you have a profile posted on Facebook, and don’t want your name and profile picture indexed by one of the major search engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN Search, you need to edit your Facebook privacy settings. While Facebook has some restrictions on the Public Search Listing of a profile, many people post their information on Facebook without realizing it can be made available to virtually anyone with an Internet connection.

You should consider some other important things as well. First, while you can meet new friends online, you may also come into contact with malicious people misrepresenting themselves. These are people you don’t want to know. Internet thieves and sexual predators are only too eager to exploit personal information found on social networking sites. They are out there and willing to hurt you unless you take precautions to protect yourself.

A second consideration, frequently overlooked, is that information you post on a social networking site may reveal indiscretions and worse to future employers, college professors, or even your parents. It’s on the record that students have been suspended and expelled for escapades and threats posted online. In some instances, potential job offers have been withdrawn because of information posted on a social networking site. Keep these things in mind when taking advantage of the pluses of social networking.

A third consideration, which does not often get much thought is you current place of employment. Think carefully as to what you post, as you may think its OK, you maybe placing yourself and/or your copmany in a vulnerable position. The posted may place you and/or the company in legal or regulatory trouble.