Posting Personal Information on Myspace and LiveJournal

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.

Normally, it would take a pretty heavy conversation to get someone's past sexual history (or lack thereof). And it would take at least a few dates to realize a new sweetheart was a closet alcoholic.

Moral of the story: Potential dates may check you out on Myspace before committing to a Saturday night. Is it wrong to screen a potential date based on personal information posted on a Myspace profile? Maybe, but I did.

Myspace Example Two: The Ex-Boyfriend

Every woman has a favorite ex-boyfriend. Well, "favorite" might be the wrong word. But we all have that ex-boyfriend we talk about with our best girlfriends, and often use to unfairly compare new boyfriends.

My "favorite" ex-boyfriend is a musician. From time to time, I look at his Myspace page for postings about his upcoming shows. I listen to the new songs he posts, and have even downloaded a few.

Here's where it gets creepy. Just from the personal information he has posted on his Myspace profile, I've seen pictures of his wife, baby, and dog. I know where he moved to raise his family. I know that his wife is the woman he left me for.

Now ask yourself this: Would you really want someone you broke up with almost four years ago to know that much about your personal life? How much access do you want a potentially scorned lover to have to your new baby? And it's all posted on a publicly viewable Myspace page for his band.

Moral of the story: He's lucky I'm not totally nuts.

LiveJournal Example One: The Former Roommate

One of my old college roommates has a LiveJournal account that she posts to regularly. My old roommate and I had a falling out two years ago when she accidentally "forgot" to watch my cats when I went away for the weekend. I've gotten over it, but we never really became friends again.

From time to time, I look at her LiveJoural postings. I can't help it-I want to know what's going on with her life, even if we'll never be the same as in college. Just today, she told a boy that she loved him. And I got the impression that her feelings were not reciprocated.

Should I know something that personal about someone I haven't had a real conversation with in six months? Probably not, but the information is publicly posted in her LiveJournal.

Moral of the story: People you may not like or trust will use your public postings on Myspace and LiveJournal to "catch up." And you will never know.

LiveJournal Example Number Two: The Relationship Killer

I suspected something weird was going on with my last boyfriend and his computer, so I googled his username to see what I could randomly find. Turns out, he was publicly posting sexually explicit messages on ex-girlfriends LiveJournal accounts. He was obviously trying to get laid-one posting even gave a woman details about where he would be on a certain day if she wanted to have sex with him. Needless to say, we broke up.

Moral of the story: Your actions are traceable when you leave an obvious trail online. I'm no computer genius, but it only took a matter of minutes to figure out my boyfriend was cheating on me.

Final Thoughts on Myspace and LiveJournal

I'm a pretty stable person, but I have no moral qualms about looking at publicly posted information on the Internet. If you have a Myspace or a LiveJournal account, take a moment to consider just who might be looking you up. With absolutely no hacking skills, someone can find out an awful lot about where you live, who you love, and what you do. And not everyone is as likely to use that information as benevolently as me.