Its out there.  Every photo you share, every status update you provide, every email you send.  Off it goes, into the cloud.  Somewhere, sitting on some hard drive, that information is stored forever.  How many of you actually read the terms of service when you sign up for a website or service?  I’m going to say not many.

I believe in a more open, a more connected world.  I think the way the internet is moving is a fun and exciting thing to be a part of.  I recommend social media to anybody who has a computer and an internet connection.  It has many, many advantages and can be a very enjoyable experience.  But be careful, the information you put out there can haunt you for the rest of your life, can come back to bite you, or be just plain embarrassing.

Your history on Twitter or Friendfeed, as an example, stays with you.  You can post whatever you want on there, but keep in mind that future business partners, or potential/current employees, or new clients can just as easily find this information as the next person with a keyboard.  All it takes is some googling and BAM, there you are.  Every site you visit, every site you sign up for or digg or stumble, you leave a trail.  Do you really want a potential employee to find that picture of you drunk out of your mind, passed out on a police cruiser on your Myspace page?

A read a blog post on Seth Godin‘s blog a while back on one of his friends looking for a nanny for her kids.  She had it down to three people and so decided to do what any responsible parent would do;  She went ahead and googled their names.  I don’t remember exactly what the results were, but if I recall it was something like this:  Applicant 1 had a criminal record, applicant 2 had a Myspace page showing some bad pictures you definitely don’t want employers to find, and applicant 3 had a blog discussing how she is doing jobs she hates and that are below her just to pay the bills.  Brutal guys, just brutal.  Be smart about what you do online.  Just because you are not face to face with someone and are behind a computer screen does not make you anonymous, does not make it ok to act like a dummy.  Common sense still applies in the online world.

Sites like Twitter and Friendfeed encourage you to seek out strangers sharing similar interests.  Most of the people you decide to follow on those sites you don’t know, and probably will never meet.  That might make you think that its ok to write and do whatever the heck you please, but you would be dead wrong.  And then there is Facebook.  Facebook is more of a closed community in which you more or less know the people in your friends list.  They have just recently opened up the profiles so that anybody can be friends with anybody else and of course Facebook profiles can be searchable through Google.  This is really important to keep in mind.  You really should pay attention to your privacy settings on Facebook, allowing who gets to see what.  But its YOUR responsibility to make sure your friends don’t kick your butt, either.  See, your friends know the nitty gritty, darker, not safe for work, not safe for the world to see part of you.  All it takes is one slip up from your friend to ruin your reputation online or otherwise.

“Remember that time we went to Vegas and you did <insert bad thing not to be discussed over the internet>…” can seriously ruin a person if posted on a wall or tweeted.  Those pictures in your friends photo album that you are tagged in, in which you are doing something really silly, do you really want his 500 friends to see?  If his profile is open, googleable (is that a word?) and in the public, do you really want the world to see?  Probably not.  Your friends don’t know any better.  Take it upon yourself to ensure that they do.  Its your reputation on the line.  At worst, it could cost you your job, or that contract, or that potential relationship, etc.  Be smart and have fun, but be conscious of the actions you do that may affect you and those close to you.