Bad-mouthing your boss online?

Posting questionable pictures?

Social networking sites can wreak professional havok if you don't protect your private life!

SOCIAL NETWORKING DANGERS

Your Resume Isn’t the Only Thing Employers Scrutinize

A recent study by Harris Interactive found that 45% of the employers they questioned are using social networks to check out job candidates before hiring them. That’s a pretty significant percentage. But here’s an even more surprising number: 35% of those employers decided not to offer a candidate a job because of what they found on an applicant’s social page.Bad-mouthing your last boss online? Posting questionable pictures? If you are on the job hunt, be sure to review your pages and profiles and make sure there isn’t anything there that can cost you a job.

From: "9 Hidden Dangers of Social Networking" How Facebook & Twitter Can Be Hazardous to Your WealthBy Ken and Daria Dolan, Dolans.com

How to have a hassle-free Facebook experience

Short of severing your electronic umbilical cord and suspending yourself in a box over the Thames, is there any way of using services without jeopardizing your privacy or integrity?

• Make your profile private, so only your friends can view it.
• As in life, choose your friends carefully.
• Use common sense and discretion when choosing your profile photo. A happy snap of you at a party—lovely; a photo of you doing shots blindfolded at the same party—perhaps not.
• “De-tagging” is a fair way to deal with a photo which portrays you in a poor light, but persuading your friends not to publish it in the first place is even better.
• If you must act in a questionable way, be smart and don’t get caught.

From: "The dangers of Facebook" By Neil Graham and Philippa Moore, archive.student.bmj.com