Posting Personal Information on Myspace and LiveJournal

How Much is Too Much?

By now, most Internet-savvy individuals have realized posting personal information on the Web isn't always the brightest idea. Potential employers can and will check your Myspace profile. Internet stalkers harass people who post revealing pictures or controversial ideas (or sometimes just for the heck of it). How do you know if something is too personal to post, though?

Let me give you a few examples of how your personal information can and will be used against you. Now, I'm not talking about obvious stuff like why putting your phone number on a dating website is bad news. You know that already.

Instead, I'm going to give you several examples of how discovering different people's personal information on public websites has influenced my interactions with them. Then, you can make up your own mind how you choose to present yourself on Myspace, LiveJournal, and other social websites.

Myspace Example One: Cute Boy at Work

For the last week or so, this really nice guy at work has been dropping origami cranes and neat little pen drawings on my desk. I'm pretty sure he likes me-he's not giving the whole office origami presents, after all. I was thinking about asking him on a date, because he's cute and sweet and shy. You know, all the typical reasons a girl might ask a boy out for coffee.

Before I made my move, I wanted to know a little more about him. I asked a couple of buddies at work what they thought, but no one knew anything. I did a quick search on Myspace using his first name and a ten-mile radius of the office zip code. Five minutes later, my crush crashed.

Turns out the cute boy at work is a twenty-year old virgin and a heavy drinker. Now don't get me wrong-none of that is terrible or unusual. But I'm twenty-six, and on a set path with school and work. I'm not much of a partier, and younger guys without a whole lot of focus don't interest me. Would we have had a great date and found ways to be compatible if we pursued a relationship? Maybe, but the odds don't seem great.