It is undeniable that the internet and social networking sites play a huge part in the modern world. With over 500 million users registered Facebook is by far the most popular Social Networking site out there. But just how much information should we put about ourselves online?

I myself have a Facebook account as well as a Twitter account. While I used to spend hours of my time on Facebook, talking to friends and uploading photos, I find myself now preferring to spend time on Twitter. One of the main reasons I enjoy having an account is so I can keep in touch with people and find out what they are doing.

My Facebook account tells me that I have 627 friends who can read my posts, look at my photos and talk to me. About once a year I have a ‘clear out’ and delete people I no longer know or do not want as friends. But why do I accept them in the first place? Because like millions of others I like to seem popular to people who stumble upon my profile.

The flip side of this of course is that it is not only my 627 friends who can see it. My mum often asks me what old school friends are doing now, and Facebook is what I show her in answer to her question. My mum does not have Facebook, and I dare say does not understand it, and yet she still reads about people’s lives and looks at their photos.

So how much information should we divulge? You can’t talk about your work place, or school on Facebook, so why have it at all? To talk about work is seen as a sin, and the goody-goody looking for promotion will always snitch if anything is said (answer to this – DELETE THEM). The same with school, a school can intervene if acts are seen to be bullying or bringing shame on the school.

Having family members on Facebook means I tactfully untagged any incriminating photos and deleted any ‘dodgy’ posts before accepting the requests. But if you don’t want your family to see them, do you really want anyone else to?…