I’ll  bet that when you are posting on Facebook  you’re not thinking about the millions of people who are also logged into Facebook. You know what its like you get caught up messaging your friends whilst updating your wall, or skimming through the Friendfeed. BUT you need to remember that amongst the many millions caught up in the Facebook phenomenon some are potential employers, business partners, real friends,work colleagues and more.

If you want to make sure that your Facebook account isn’t going to come back to haunt you, here are 5 Costly Facebook Mistakes  that you should avoid. 

1. Keep it Clean

Your uploaded picture should be neutral if not professional. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the picture is going to be boring, but keep provocative and cartoony pictures tucked away where the world cannot see them. Remember, as an employee or future employee you are carrying the name of whatever company you work for. Provocative pictures never look good, especially when you can run the risk of future clients seeing your profile as well. A rule of thumb is that provocative pictures are for private viewing only.

2. Good Manners Never Hurt Anyone
The wall on Facebook, can be used to openly display any thoughts, articles, or comments you may want to share. As tempting as what it may be don’t make the mistake of putting everything and anything on your wall. Remember common courtesy should considered. So…Don’t make plans with people through wall posts. Save personal plans for personal emails or phone calls. If you’ve been invited to an event and plan to go, send an email or text message straight to the person that invited you instead of announcing your plans and confirmation on your wall. Once again it pays to have good manners you because you never know who may be watching. 

3. To Share Or Not To Share – That Is The Question!
If you choose to make your profile visible to everyone, then it is imperative that you make safe choices. For instance, sharing personal information such as an interest in Sci Fi movies, Eating Pizza and Cats is okay. However, showing personal addresses, names of children or children’s pictures may not be a good idea, because you never know who is viewing your profile or even worse still why they are viewing your profile.

4. Guilty By Association 
Facebook is a Social Site and the theory is that your friends are like minded people who are  a reflection of yourself. So you need to be aware of what pictures your friends are posting particularly if you are one of the star attractions. If  your friends are posting pictures that can be considered ‘too sexy’ then it’s possible that employers will view you as a spitting image of your friends. While it is impossible to prevent all friends from posting pictures of their choice, it is possible to prevent who is allowed to see a person’s list of friends. Take advantage of the privacy settings that Facebook offers.

5. Two Is Twice As Much Fun
If you having difficulty in keeping your profile on Facebook professional at all times then the option of having two profiles is for you. Many people have two profiles keeping one profile strictly for personal friends and the other strictly for professional business networking and coworkers. A great way to use two profiles is to make sure everything on your personal profile is private, while your professional profile can remain public. 

However you use Facebook its important to realise that 20% of companies admit to checking social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace in order to verify potential employees, and 24% of employees are hired based on their social networking site. So the next time you apply for a job, remember to check your Facebook account for any ticking bombs, because your future job could depend on it.

We hope this post has been useful. If you liked it share it with your friends or leave a comment. 

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