The Y Files

Are you sure that you know how to use social media? Are you tweeting with Twitter, posting status updates on Facebook, and using LinkedIn to connect with colleagues? If you have plenty to say, you may have your own blog. If you're especially social media savvy (or just look good on camera), you might even have your own YouTube channel.

Loose Lips Sink Ships

The Pentagon Channel wants America's men and women in uniform to make smart decisions when it comes to social media. Your company probably does, too, even though no one may have told you so, or put a written policy in place. Fortunately for us civilians then, an episode of the Pentagon Channel's "FNG" show presents a top 10 list of social media mistakes.

The following sections describe mistakes 10 – 5, with some additional commentary for us civilians along the way. And in case you're wondering, "FNG" is a military acronym for "foolish new guy" – but the "F" here doesn't really stand for "foolish".

10. Posting an inappropriate or stupid picture on Facebook.

Any photograph that's ever been taken of you can be scanned and uploaded on-line. If you're tagged in a photo on Facebook, that image displays on your profile page. There, even your boss (if you have one who is also a Facebook friend), can see that picture of you in a Hawaiian shirt with a drink in each hand.

Hopefully, you've never been the subject of a photograph like the one shown in the Pentagon Channel video. But if you have, and you've been tagged by a fun-loving Facebook friend, be sure to un-tag yourself and request the photograph's removal.

9. Posting info that gives bad guys a chance to do bad things.

Believe it or not, some social media types post information such as "I'm going away for the weekend". These folks might not add that they're leaving their front doors unlocked, but the Pentagon Channel believes it's better to be safe than sorry. That seems like pretty sound advice, especially for that guy in the Receiving Department who likes to tell anyone who'll listen that the door next to the loading dock doesn't shut so well.

8. Posting photos to the web that should only be shared privately.

Remember that photo of you in the Hawaiian shirt with a drink in each hand? You might not want your boss and all of your co-workers to see the gory details of your vacation, but that doesn't mean that you can't share some of your photographs with family and close friends. Facebook lets you create private photo albums that only the people you specify can see.

7. Tweeting extremely personal or private information.

The lines between public and private may seem blurry at times, but the fact remains that "discretion is the better part of valor".

6. Posting an embarrassing video.

The Pentagon Channel suggests a simple standard (a question really) if you have doubts about a video's suitability for the Web: "Would you show it to your commander or first sergeant?" In the civilian world, you might ask yourself if you'd want a future employer to base any part of a hiring decision based upon this part of your video record. Do you look like someone that a business would want to have represent it at a trade show, training seminar, or conference?

Editor's Note: Click here for Part 2.

The Pentagon Channel

FNG Video on Facebook