Social media in moderation

Posted this Q&A on with some interesting variety of responses to follow:

How do you impress upon those in social media that moderation is key; if you're profile is on the web, everyone can see it??? Just realized my nephew (20 yo) looks like an idiot online!

A follow-up from my first post:

From Blake Imeson
"When it comes time for him to get a job and he starts to get Googled then he will realize you have to be careful about what goes online. I am around his age and I think most people are conscious of the danger to your reputation the internet can be. There are still people that are oblivious to the image they give online. Consolation is that most profiles are fairly private (Facebook for instance) and most can be set to decent standards of privacy, people just don't bother."

From Kathy (Ford) Broniecki
"As a potential employer, I purposely avoid facebook and myspace accounts of prospects. Especially those under 25 that haven't figured out that potential employers could be looking at every drunken escapade. I view this much like I view the multiple tatoos and piercings - somewhat of a right of passage. Some measure of leveling humiliation generally precedes maturity. However, I'm in the advertising industry and someone in a more conservative industry may see things differently."

From David Bird
"My final year students are similar. On a session I do on privacy, we have a good look at their googled photos. Then we have a long talk about all the privacy options available on the social networks. The other conversation we have is: would you want to work for someone who would actively exclude you from a job interview because you had a good and wild time as a student?"

From Bridget Waldron
"I would let him know that his online image is a part of his personal brand and he should be more careful of how he presents himself in person and online. In the age of You Tube, blogging, facebook etc., being overexposed has its drawbacks and more companies are paying close attention to these sites as they screen potential employees."

From Kimmo Linkama (a viewpoint from outside U.S.)
"Then again, it is really sad if you have to start seriously watching every word you say when you're hardly 20. I think this corporate interest about the quality of employees is bordering on paranoia -- and when you finally get a job, you're subjected to "voluntary" drug tests and what have you. The same paranoid watching over you all the way... There are clear cultural differences, though. My impression is that Europeans allow more foolishness than Americans. Another interesting point is that when young people start to realize they have to be on their best behavior on the internet, how many of them will knowingly create a false profile? I'm sure this is already happening. Employers should not pay a lot of attention to the more personal or intimate social media as an information source."