Google Yourself Lately?

Checking your online footprint is a new-media necessity.

“We sent a message asking the actor if he was skipping his performance that night,” theater manager Jim Daab says. “And he got all bent out of shape. He insisted that his mother was in the hospital.” Later that night, Daab checked the actor’s Facebook status. Instead of updates about his supposedly sick mother, it read, “I’m in a bad mood, who wants to go to a movie?” Apparently, it never occurred to the actor that Daab was eavesdropping.

There’s a lot of spying on the endless revelations in Facebook posts, Twitter feeds and blog entries. Many people think of these online venues as social party time, without realizing that bosses, recruiters, clients and co-workers are often crashing the scene. Not only can you get "dooced," you may have trouble getting hired or landing a new client. More than one graduating student has lost a job offer because of an incriminating Facebook photo, according to the career center at Virginia Commonwealth University.

--Richmond Magazine