Students should put their best face forward when using Facebook

"Many students feel that putting all their personal details online is no big deal, but they don't realize posting details about inappropriate behavior and personal information may put them at risk," says Pablo Malavenda, Purdue's associate dean of students who speaks extensively on campus and at national conferences about Facebook. "These virtual communities are part of today's student culture and are how they communicate, and students shouldn't necessarily avoid being a part of it altogether. They just need to make smart decisions about what they choose to post online."

More than 9 million college students currently use Facebook, an online directory that connects users through courses, groups and friends. Anyone with a valid e-mail account from more than 2,000 universities and more than 25,000 high schools can register. Millions of other people age 14 and up are registered at MySpace, a similar directory that does not require affiliation with a school.

Malavenda suggests students take advantage of online communities by using them to:

• Connect with old and current friends.

• Network with others in your classes or organizations, as well as faculty members.

• Promote a worthwhile event or rally around a campus issue or cause.

To avoid problems, both now and in the future, Malavenda says students should monitor messages and photos that others post on their site. Students also should avoid posting inappropriate photos, writing or posting photos depicting underage drinking or drug use, and using hateful language when posting on their own or others' sites.

Many companies often use such sites when they are screening prospective employees, and students shouldn't post anything they wouldn't want to be published on the front page of their hometown newspaper or mentioned in a future job interview, says Eugene Spafford, director of Purdue's Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security, also known as CERIAS.

"Any information on the Internet is potentially available to up to a billion people, especially when the information posted gets 'mirrored' or archived without the subject knowing it," Spafford says. "Many students don't realize that posting about what you like to do on Friday nights in your sophomore year can come back to haunt you when you are searching for a job, running for office or trying to get your own children to exercise caution.

"I've seen seemingly confidential material posted years ago show up in unexpected places now, embarrassing or hurting otherwise respectable people."

As well as keeping their online content appropriate, users need to think carefully before posting personal information like phone numbers, e-mail addresses, home addresses and instant message names, Spafford says.

Writers: Jim Schenke, (765) 494-6262, jschenke@purdue.edu

Christy Jones, (765) 494-1089, christyjones@purdue.edu

Sources: Pablo Malavenda, (765) 494-1232, pablo@purdue.edu

Eugene Spafford, (765) 494-7825, spaf@cerias.purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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