Avoid Your Own $80,000 Facebook Mistake
Oversharing online can cost you if you're not careful
Could something like this ever happen to you? Absolutely.
If we give Ms. Snay credit for knowing she would be violating the confidentiality clause by telling people this news, we can only assume she got caught in one of two big errors that entrap many social media users:
How can you address this concern? Review your privacy settings on Facebook. Be aware of your choices about who can view your updates. Are you allowing “friends of friends” to see what you share? You may want to limit that audience, as doing so will help reign in unintended results from your status updates.
When it comes to your privacy settings, even the best tended Facebook account is only as secure as the least loose-lipped “friend.” All it takes is one person to pass around his Smartphone featuring an update intended for a small group, or for someone to share the update electronically, and the cat is out of the bag.
The best advice for social media users: never write or share anything you wouldn't want the entire world to see. Save your secrets for one-on-one conversations with trusted friends. Or, keep it between you and your pets!
Save your sanity, your job and, in this case, money. Do not share anything on Facebook or any network if you consider in the least bit confidential. Be aware, your friends may be less than friendly when it comes to keeping your information private.
Miriam Salpeter is a job search and social media consultant, career coach, author, speaker, resume writer and owner of Keppie Careers. She is author of Social Networking for Business Success, Social Networking for Career Success and 100 Conversations for Career Success.
