I was reading this article on Mashable over the weekened and this little statistical tidbit raised an eyebrow.

According to a new study by Proofpoint, an Internet security firm, of companies with 1,000 or more employees, 17 percent report having issues with employee’s use of social media. And, 8 percent of those companies report having actually dismissed someone for their behavior on sites like Facebook and LinkedIn. That’s double from last year, where just 4 percent reported having to fire someone over social media misuse.

Now when I was in B-school these issues were JUST coming up, and in my last semester as a B-school student the article "We Googled You" came out in the Harvard Business Review (It was a actually a summer issue, but close enough).

I guess there are two rules of thumb here:

1. Read Speechless: the erosion of free speech in the american workplace. It is a great book, and it's something that every employed person should read, especially those that dabble in social media.

2. Please keep in mind who you have as friends! Facebook for REAL friends, and LinkedIn for colleagues and business associates. Don't muddy the water - it's better that way. If you prefer a little murkiness, do use Facebook's grouping features and don't show some info to some people

3. Careful what you tweet and be mindful of who sees it. Now if you are as peed off at the person in this photo, maybe you are not in control of all of your zen abilities that allow you to think rationally about what you are doing. That said, go back to point number 1 and read that book. At least you know what you have to deal with!