Sunday February 8, 2009     I’m sure I don’t have to tell anyone that all the info we blog about and put on Facebook and MySpace can be read by anyone.  Even if someone is not on your Friends list and you have your privacy features on, it’s possible with very little effort to hack into your comments and postings. 

I once Googled a friend’s email address since I couldn’t recall her website URL and came to another pal’s Friends Comments on their MySpace page.  She had only 3 friends listed and I knew them all.  Her privacy settings were set to just the 4 of them.  In their comments they were conspiring to put another mutual friend out of business and ruin her reputation, something they had initiated several months earlier.

Had anyone told me this about any of these people I would not have believed it.   J and L, whom I (and the hapless target) thought disliked and avoided each other, had apparently been friends for years.  I learned all this inadvertedly, not even looking for it, going in through Google‘s back door of their MySpace page, past their privacy settings.

Did I tell my friend, their target?  No.  It was something she had been warned about but she was not sure was true.  She wanted to ignore it and let it pass on its own, if it was true.  I saw no need to tell her and re-open the topic.  She doesn’t go online, so it’s unlikely she’ll ever see it.

The bottom line is – well, what I do is discuss online ONLY anything I want everyone else in the world to know about me.  Everyone.  For all time.  Even if you type something in and post it, and immediately go back and delete it, that may have been enough time for 10,000 search engines to catch it and record it for all time.

Oh yeah, and remember that putting personal details like date of birth, hometown, school, pet’s names, etc. on Facebook and MySpace is not wise if you use any of that info as online passwords.  Just a heads up.  We can be open but we don’t have to be foolish.

I’m just discovering Facebook
Managing Incoming Information; What Is Facebook For?
Facebook quizzes; every little bit of insight helps
Facebook posts; I’m in charge of what I attract
Facebook friends to the rescue, helping me Excel
If a Friend Asks For $$ In Facebook, Ask A Personal Question
You Want To Be My Friend On Facebook?
How To Stop The Stupid Facebook Posts On Your Wall
The Zen of Farmville on Facebook? WTF?
Are Your Facebook Friends Really Your Friends? Don’t Assume Mine Are Either
What I post on Facebook
Finding childhood buds on Facebook, flashback to age 18
Is it ok to break up with someone over Facebook?
Why I like Facebook
What kind of posts do you like to read on Facebook?