Market My Novel

President-elect Barack Obama's campaign speechwriter is an intelligent person, right? I mean, he has to be. He helped the Democrat pull in enough votes to win the White House for four years. Right?

Based on his social networking prowess, I'd say, NO.

Jon Favreau posted pictures from a party on his Facebook page. As you can see, Favreau posed for a pic with a cardboard cut out of Obama's heated rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton, with his hand on her breast.

The photographs were pulled within a few hours, but the damage was already done. Once something is in cyberspace, is it there for a lifetime. Even when you take images down, change designs or text, it is still available in archives. And if you have enough power to pull those archives, then I guarantee someone has saved it on their harddrive, or blogged about it for all the world to see – or they have posted it to their own photo albums on their social networks.

This is an excellent example of how stupidity resounds online. Too many people – especially 20-and30-somethings – do not think about employers seeing their Drunken Photos album on Facebook, or consider the ramifications of having an inappropriate MySpace photo icon. They think their friends will find it funny. In a digital age where there is no longer Six Degrees of Separation, more than just your close buddies will see your stupidity. It could cost you a job, fans, or cause embarrasment to your family.

When you are posting to your social networks, as yourself, How stupid am I? This will go a long way to helping you keep a clean image of yourself when using the net for business. You can be fun, silly, show off your smart-mouth side, but keep it clean. And if you are running for office, or want to work in the White House someday, keep your hands off of your rival's breasts. It is quite unbecoming.