Above the Law: Social sites contain hidden dangers

In this increasingly technological world, the Internet is at the forefront of technology used to bring us closer together. Nearly every person I know is a member of a social networking site like Facebook or MySpace and the ability to look into someone's life through these sites is definitely there.

Many people get on these social sites because they want to keep in contact with friends and family, or want to express themselves in a venue where others can see. The problem comes in when someone posts something on your wall or tags you in a photo that is not exactly positive. On a site like Facebook, there is not a lot you can do to remove a photo you are tagged in.

There are many reasons one might not want certain photos or comments about their behavior to be made public information, but one of the most important is for your career. If you go to look for a job, certain companies actually go out and search the Internet for information about you. This includes the aforementioned social sites.

Remember this: once something is on the Internet, it has the potential to be there forever. If an employer sees photos of you drinking beer, smoking cigarettes or even sees derogatory comments on your wall, it can cost you the position. Even something as small as having your religious or political views available on your site can have an effect on whether you get or keep a job.

Aside from the issue of these companies finding out what you have been doing, it can affect your personal life as well. I cannot count the number of times I have heard stories about an angry ex who got the password of someone and has read their messages or seen certain photos they were not supposed. This can ruin relationships, hurt feelings and leave you with a feeling of being violated.

This brings me to my second point about personal reputation versus your online reputation and how people perceive you. For example, if you are in a position in life such as a journalist where you are supposed to be unbiased, having your opinions about political elections or other controversial issues posted on your site could alienate readers, or cause you to be challenged about your reliability and integrity.

With online life progressing so rapidly now, our real world personalities and lives can be affected greatly by these networking sites. We must begin thinking about preventative maintenance of these "online personalities" and try to clean them up a little for the sake of our lives in the real world. Think about whom you choose to allow access to your information and exactly what content there is on your site that could hurt you in the end.