We’ll all heard about the case of Ashley Payne, whose Facebook picture of herself holding a glass wine in one hand and a beer pint in the other hand, got her fired. She was a school teacher in Georgia, and she wasn’t even drinking in the school premises. But, a parent who saw this picture on her social media got too concerned and filed a complaint with the school board.
Just a picture got this lady fired, and it isn’t like everybody is not posting such pictures. The only problem here was that Ms Payne did not take those privacy settings on Facebook too seriously. With the digital world expanding with such heavy rates, people are getting more and more casual about the concerns of privacy regarding the internet. It is better to be careful than to be sorry later. Here is a list of privacy mistake, you absolutely cannot make this year. Fasten your safety belts and read along.
(1) It is important to realize that as you enter the professional world, you have leave behind your careless teenager attitude behind. You have to keep a track on the kind of pictures you share with your followers, the kind of content you post and even the kind of posts you like. Nothing on the internet is ever hidden, or safe.
(2) Every workplace has its own set of privacy rules – what documents you can access, what information you can share, whether you can post any pictures of you workplace online, etc. If you are to add office colleagues and other people from your work circle on your social media profile, you have to be very careful about not posting anything that might look inappropriate.
(3) If you have a Facebook page, make sure you’ve gone through the privacy setting thoroughly, because trust me, most people have no idea about privacy settings. If you are not sure about the privacy options, it is better not post excessively.
(4) Now, we’ve all had old Facebook profiles or Yahoo! Email ids that we no longer use. Most of us ignore these accounts, focusing only on the current accounts instead. Well, you are being ignorant about a very important aspect of privacy here. When you are being considered for a new project, or job offer or any sensitive project, the picture you posted on your 16th birthday can also be reviewed. So, before there is a third party doing the background search, why don’t do it yourself and save everyone else from any surprises.