Social media is growing at a rapid rate with more people using social media and social networking sites than ever before.
There are clearly many benefits to these sites for the user, which is why they are so very popular.
However, we are also hearing more from the news about the downsides to these social media sites as well.
For example, many people have lost their jobs or even been arrested and charged with crimes due to information that was present about them on social media sites.
In most of these cases, it was the person's fault in the first place because they had committed some type of crime of illegal offense.
For example, a group of Chicago teachers were fired when it was discovered that they were having inappropriate conversations with students on social networking site, Facebook.
Btu then there are other cases such as that where a teacher was fired due to photos on MySpace or her at a party with a plastic cup of what could have been alcohol.
It was said that she was not setting a good example for her students.
This brings up a big debate about social networking, the content you put on it and how it could be used against you.
Even if you are not a criminal or defrauder and you are not intentionally breaking regulations of your company, there are ways that social networks can hurt you if you're not using them properly.
For example, do you know what personal information of yours is displayed publicly on the social networking sites you use? There could be more info out there than you think.
Do you post pictures of your kids and where they go to school? Do you compromise security of your home by stating that you are leaving and no one will be home? These are all things that could lead to a dangerous situation.
You could also be the subject of a bad social check if you are not careful about what private information you allow to be public.
You can even perform a social check on yourself and you might be surprised at the results.
The next time you use a social networking site, take time to learn about how it works, what the privacy settings are and what kind of information you're putting out there so that you can avoid a bad social media check.