Mark Zuckerberg and his colleagues at Facebook believe that by openly acknowledging who we are and behaving consistently among all our friends and business associates we will help create a healthier society. Of course, his business depends on this philosophy. In his book, The Facebook Effect, David Kirkpatrick says that Zuckerberg believes, "that if we live in an ‘open and transparent' world, people will be held to the consequences of their actions and be more likely to behave more responsibly".

In a recently released Pew Internet and American Life Project survey of 895 "tech experts" and "highly engaged internet" users, two thirds responded that today's millennials will continue, as they grow older, to "disclose a great deal of personal information" in order to stay connected, and to "take advantage of social, economic and political opportunities." Bottom line is that the younger generation who has grown up with Myspace and Facebook have no qualms about continuing to post personal information on social media about themselves and their activities throughout their lives.

These are the same people who have posted embarrassing photos and text about their exploits and bad behavior. Some of these people have lost out on good jobs and/or acceptance into graduate programs because of these disclosures on their favorite social media platforms. Have they learned their lessons, or do they just dismiss these missteps as part of becoming an adult?

Is this transparency a good thing? Will it help you expand your professional network? Will it help you land that promotion or get that next dream job by virtue of the fact that your personal postings impress your current or future bosses as much as your resume and job experiences? Mark Zuckerberg hopes so. Or will these postings stifle your career advancement and ruin your chances at moving up the ladder?

According to Zuckerberg, "Having two identities for yourself is an example of a lack of integrity". His thoughts on this topic basically point out that "the level of transparency the world has now won't support having two identities for a person". Because of the proliferation of information about individuals on the internet, the possibility of maintaining separate identities on the web are all but impossible. Eventually one's professional image will be overwritten by their personal image regardless of how hard they try to separate one from the other. Zuckerberg believes you only have one identity. Maybe he has a point, but a lot of older users seem apprehensive about combining their professional and personal identities.

One of Zuckerberg's early investors and mentors, Reid Hoffman, the founder of the professional online network Linkedin, has done his best to discourage users from posting personal information on Linkedin. Reid said, "Mark doesn't believe that social and professional lives are distinct". He went on to say, "That's a classic college student view. One of the things you learn as you get older is that you have these different contexts." Of course, Mark developed the original version of Facebook while he was in college at Harvard. And even today, he is barely older than most college students.

A former Facebook programmer Charlie Cheever thinks that Zuckerberg doesn't believe in privacy. Privacy has been, and remains to be a big issue with Facebook and its users. There have been numerous user revolts on this issue. To Facebook's credit, the company has responded to its users and provided better privacy controls on numerous occasions since its inception. Of course, the question still remains, "Should one company, Facebook, have sole control over the personal information of nearly 500 million users?"

What are the pros of combining your professional and personal personas? Exposure, networking, common interests with those you might want to do business with. The cons are exposure, documented misbehavior, negative networking through guilt by association and political stances that might be unattractive to prospective business partners.

Bottom line: if you don't want your personal information to be mixed in with your professional online presence, you should not go on any form of social media or join any online clubs, political groups, or other associations. Google will make your personal info available to anyone who searches on your name. Yes, you can limit what is seen on Facebook, but sooner or later you will be outed by association or your friends. Whenever you post something online, just remember the whole world is watching and reading.

What's your opinion on this topic? Has social media hurt your career or the career of someone you know? Have you missed out on a job because of your Myspace or Facebook postings? Are you active on social media? Do your friends on Facebook tag your wall with photos of your misbehavior or document your outrageous activities?

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