We’ve all heard about it since we came to college, and sometimes we even hear about it on the news.

College students are always being advised to closely monitor what is put up on their Facebook and MySpace pages, because once you put pictures and personal information on social networking sites, anyone can see them. And in this day and age, those pictures from that drunken night at the bar may or may not cost you a job. You’ll never know.

Yes, we’ve all heard the privacy argument. What’s on your personal page is your personal property, and that stuff is nobody’s business but yours. But let’s face it, the internet isn’t private, and neither are sites like Facebook and Myspace. After all, the reason you put the scandalous pictures and questionable information up in the first place is so that people will see it.

Sure, each of those sites has lots of different privacy settings so you can pick and choose who can see what. For example, Facebook has that ever-so-useful setting “My Friends and Networks Only” to dictate who can see your profile and pictures. So let’s say you’re a member of the Des Moines network, and the manager in charge of the internship you’re applying for is also a member of the Des Moines network. He/She can see your profile as well, and chances are they’ll find those pictures from that night on Spring Break last week of you bonging that beer.

But if you’re not ashamed of anything you’ve done in the myriad pictures on your profile, good for you. Post away. As for us, we’re going to take the safe route and censor our profiles a little. We don’t want to take any chances.