Nothing is free. Facebook
is the free to you because you are the product being sold, more
specifically your personal information.
Users' willingness to
share information is a key part of Facebook's business. The site
makes the bulk of its money from ads that target users based on your
personal information. In 2011 the company earned a profit of $668
million and booked $3.7 billion of revenue.
It simply takes a few
minutes to create a Facebook account. Only a few seconds to comment
on any page or profile. Only a few clicks to post some pictures. So
easy. What some people don’t realize however, is that once a
comment, a picture or a link is posted, it could take a life of its
own and would be very hard to remove.
Of course, Facebook allows
the user to remove whatever they post on their own account, but
particularly intriguing, scandalous or offensive material can be
captured forever by the wrong people. Others can simply open your
profile, press the print screen button and paste the picture on a
different account. From then on, you have no control over where that
information goes.
So what should and should
not be posted? Here are a few examples:
1) Comments offensive to a
group of people or an individual. One local example was what the
news called the “Devil On Detroit Street” who chose to make fun
of a neighbors daughter. This turned into a legal battle and the
lady who posted the offensive material has since had many personal
threats.
2) Pictures harmful to
National Security or Reputation . A picture paints a thousand words,
so they say. This is especially if you or a family member works in a
sensitive position in the government. If say your dad is working for
an intelligence agency, you don’t want to post online where and
with whom you spent your holidays. And how many times do you hear of
young war veterans landing in trouble for pictures during their tour
that found its way to the world wide web?
3) Sexually suggestive
photos. We all like to go out and cut loose with our friends but with
we have to be aware that most every one has a smart phone with
facebook loaded and you are just a post away from being really
popular on faceoobk. Use the “Grandma Rule” if you would not
want your grandma to see it, don't post it. You should also have
your privacy settings so that you have to approve all photos that you
are tagged in so you have better control over what shows up on your
page.
4)Work- related matters.
Comments that you thought random could inform competitors within and
outside your company about the things that you have been up to
lately. I even suggest not including your boss or subordinates in
your ‘friends’ list. You might post that you have a new job
interview and if your current boss didn't know about, they can now.
5) Dirty Laundry. Family
issues should be kept within family circles. Nobody should be
interested about why you got angry with your parent or your sibling.
And those who do seem to be interested, they are only after the
gossip. So its better to keep things to yourself. Family issues are
usually solved long before those gossips and bad rep go away.
These are just a few
examples. There are no hard and fast rules. However, before you press
that ‘post’ button, think a few seconds more.
