When I ran across this article about stupid things that people do on Facebook I expected failblog worthy tales. Instead, it’s an article that reminders us that even smart people can unknowingly do stupid things on Facebook, maybe you are that person.
Don’t make these stupid mistakes:
1 – Sharing your entire birthday on Facebook.
Giving away your date of birth is a good first step to get your identity stolen. If you like being bombarded with happy birthday messages on your special day, then don’t share the year you were born. Safety first people!
2 – Posting when you will be away from home.
I know it’s hard to contain your excitement when you have a vacation coming up, but don’t announce when you will be gone on Facebook. It’s safer to wait and share pictures and stories for when you come home. I’m not saying that your friends would break into your house while you are away, but you never know what creeps will take advantage of the situation.
3- Make sure to check out the privacy controls. 
Unless you really do want the whole world to see your page, who your friends and family are and pictures of your kids, then do yourself a favor and check out Facebook’s privacy options. Play around with the settings to see how people will see your page, including people who you don’t know.
4 – Don’t post dumb things.
I have 2 stories for you:
My friend got a resume and promptly Google’d that person’s name. The first result that came up was this person’s Facebook page which listed her name and the town she lives in, so he knew that it was the right person. The only other information it showed was her quote that said “witches best not be stepping to my man unless they want to be taken down!” (but she didn’t say witches.) That resume promptly got thrown into the trash.
My next story is about a lawsuit that I don’t know all of the details on, but I do know that it has come down to someone’s Facebook wall, IM history and photos being printed out and presented as evidence. That doesn’t sound like fun. (Here’s a fun way to conceal drinking pictures.)
The lesson is don’t post anything that could get you fired, prevent you from getting a job, arrested, and other horrible things.
Think twice about posting something that would offend your friends (parents, I know that you baby is magical, but no one needs to know about its diaper happenings.) Go by Thumper’s rule: if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.
5 –Don’t mention the names of your small kids.
Ruth Manuel-Logan, the author of the post that inspired this post explains this stupid move best:
Is it really necessary to mention your children by name to a network of perhaps 12 real friends and 443 extended ”I don’t really know those folks but I friended them anyway” on your Facebook page?
Parents need to know that on the social web, safety is a shared responsibility Facebook between users and the site.
Unfortunately, there are plenty of undesirables like predators and kidnappers, who may have, or can gain access to your information and a user’s safety depends on the user as much as on the site.
Do you really want these creeps to know your children Howie and Prudence’s names, or to know, where they go to school?
Giving your children privacy is an unwritten commonsense Facebook parental rule! Follow it!
Have you seen stupid Facebook happenings?
I agree! It’s very important to keep your Facebook page “clear” especially for the youngest generation. And I would add – “don’t tag your friends on dump photos”. Sometimes it’s funny but it can badly affect the reputation.
Have seen teachers befriending their students. Same displaying their weekends out with friends. As for parents displaying their kids with information – there is so much of it. People really need to wise up.
yah i totally agree..don’t ever make those stupid mistakes or else . . .
So many people just think that they can throw whatever they want up on their Facebook and don’t think twice about it. I know many people that are recent college graduates and a few months before graduating set all of their Facebook privacy settings to the strictest possible as well as went through and untag themselves in any offensive photos.
That is absolutely true! I myself do not divulge everything on my Facebook. I only choose what others have to see and know about me. The fact that though you do good around Facebook, someone else may find ways to defamation.
The importance of being careful on the internet appears to be lost on today’s younger generation. Oftentimes they do not realize the permanent implications of their online posts. Is it better to just avoid a personal facebook page all together?
Some things are said to be much better left unsaid. This holds true even on my Face book account and as well on my other social networking account. Just being SAFE…
This is why I am very cautious of what I share online.