A couple of years ago, I participated in a panel on “social media in the workplace” at an Oracle Women’s Leadership event. I remember shocking the audience when I discounted the technology available to secure how and to whom you shared information.

“Nothing is private. Don’t kid yourselves. Assume everything you put out there can be seen by everyone.”

I was reminded about this important consideration when I read Oliver Marks post Planning Your Online Lives in 2011. Oliver suggests that even though “individuals are highly sophisticated in grouping friends and associates to carefully reveal or conceal information in context to them,” they will tend to find that, in actuality, “the internet often tends to bleed out far more information than we would prefer.”

My advice to you is to bring your whole self to your online communications. Make sure the pictures you post are appropriate for colleague (and manager) viewing. Make sure the things you write reflect the person you want to be in an interview. Use lists, groups, and filters to target your communications, but not to control them.

Photo credit: Vivian Wong