Ahhhh….social networking….whether you are a fan of MySpace, Facebook or any of the other popular social networking sites available on the Internet, it is easy to get swept away by the fun of it all. Yet, many people fail to consider the fact that it is not too difficult for someone to find and to read what you have posted on these sites. While it may seem like nothing but having a bit of harmless fun or joking around with your friends and family, what you post on social networking sites can easily come back to haunt you.

You Thought it Was Gone, But….

One of the biggest problems with posting questionable content to social networking sites – or to any other Internet site for that matter – is the fact that you have very little control over what happens to that content once it is “out there.” While you may think that your content is protected, it is a simple process for someone to copy that content and to post it somewhere else without you knowing it. While this may technically be illegal for someone to do and you may be able to take a legal course of action against someone for doing it, you may not learn about the reposting of your content until the damage has already been done.

Many people mistakenly believe that the things they write and the pictures they post on these social networking sites will go away if they simply delete the files, but the reality is that the things you post to these sites may never go away. Just ask former American Idol contestants and others who suddenly find themselves in the limelight – those embarrassing photos that they forgot about ever taken are suddenly being viewed by millions of people around the world.

Ruining Your Plans for the Future

Aside from being quite embarrassing, the things you post on your social networking site can also have devastating effects on your plans for the future. Many employers and colleges perform google searches on applicants in order to see what type of information they can dig up on the individual before making a final decision. Finding a picture of you at a party drinking alcohol will not make a good impression on the school’s admissions officer or on the employer’s human resources manager. The same is true for writing questionable content that may be interpreted as sexist, racist, overly aggressive or otherwise controversial in nature.

While no one is saying that you can’t be yourself when visiting with friends on social networking site, you should use a bit of caution. Keep in mind that the things you say and the pictures you post may be viewed by someone other than the attended recipient and make certain everything you put on your site is something you would be comfortable with other people viewing.