Consider your Facebook status carefully: your boss might be reading

By Christof Kerkmann Oct 10, 2010, 12:51 GMT

Berlin - Barbie just can't work up any interest in her job today. 'It's just one of those days, where you don't get anything done,' she posts as her Facebook status.

But she knows a way around that: 'When the boss comes around, you just act like you have a lot to do.'

What she forgot is that there isn't much keeping her boss - or the rest of the world - from reading her status line. Many such subject line commentaries tend to make it to the wider internet.

Thus, while a social networking status line is often the window to one's online soul - mood monitor, virtual bathroom stall and stage for self-expression all in one - many users forget they are baring their thoughts about their mood, health or boss to a lot of people whom they'd probably prefer couldn't read the notes.

Just about every social network allows the possibility to leave a note alerting a group of friends to one's mood. But those random thoughts often reach the general public, and quickly. But the right setting and rules of conduct can help avoid much embarrassment.

Despite regular reports about data protections problems, a lot of people seem unaware of the problem.

'Many people think their comments on social networks are private,' notes communications consultant Klaus Eck in his seminars. But market leader Facebook has shown again and again that users need to think more about their data security options - it's the only way to control who sees what content.

'Users can set with each entry - whether it's a link, a picture, text or video - who gets to see it,' says a Facebook spokeswoman. That's controlled by the padlock symbol that appears whenever one types text. Target groups can be as narrow as one person. Similarly, one individual can be left out of a note sent to everyone else.

Anyone who takes the time and categorizes one's contacts into lists can release a picture of the office party to one's co-workers with a click, but keep the commentary about those pictures from them.

Alternatively, there's the dangerous option with Facebook of trumpeting a status announcement to the whole world. Making an item available to All means that information is available to people outside one's network.

Portals like youropenbook.org or booshaka.com scan the internet and bring up reports like this. Anyone who did a search for 'boss' and some choice curse words would soon notice that a lot of people don't realize how freely they are sharing their thoughts.

Social networks should not rely exclusively on technical controls. That's because address books quickly fill up not just with real friends, but old school buddies, parents and co-workers. The so- called private circle thus becomes a giant, at least semi-open, circle. It's easy to gather hundreds of contacts.

'Anyone who is active in social networks has to say farewell to privacy,' says Eck.

Thus, before any utterance, the question needs to be asked: 'Would it be bad if this were printed in a newspaper?' If the answer is 'yes,' then don't publish it.

'Anyone who is uncertain of the way their profile appears should ask their friends for an opinion,' advises Eck.

Twitter is another service to keep friends up to date.

'This was the trailblazer for status updates for networks like Facebook,' says social media expert Stefan Berns. The popular microblogging service has, however, turned into a much more 'public communications channel,' argues Berns, who has written a book about the service.

It is possible to set the service's 140-character messages as 'protected tweets,' only available to one's own contacts, leaving outsiders left with only a view of a padlock.