Perils of Social Media, Think before you post

What you post on social media sites can help or ruin your reputation. The seemingly harmless photo of you and your friends clowning for the camera can spiral in cyberspace and reach friends of friends of friends.... And, I can guarantee you have a good chance of offending someone. That someone could be a person who is about to make a major decision about your career or approve the loan for your new home.

Keep in mind that posts to any social media channel are always only part of the story. They are snapshots in time without context. My recommendation is that if you wouldn’t say it, show it or do it in front of your grandmother, don’t post it.

Northeastern University offers its students some tips along with some horror stories about managing your social media sites.

They recommend actions including:

• Manage your security settings to limit who will see what you post and monitor your settings periodically.
• Keep your posts positive and without profanity or profane symbols.
• Separate personal from business by not friending bosses, professors and other business associates.
• Choose your “friends” carefully.
• Review old posts and remove things that may make you vulnerable.
  Above all, remember everything on the Internet is permanent and NOTHING is truly private.