Don't put anything online you might want to take back

We heard a speaker recently who used a good object lesson with his children.

First, he gave them each a tube of toothpaste, and let them race to see who could squeeze out all of the paste as quickly as possible.

Then, he pulled a $20 out of his wallet and offered it to the first child who could put all the toothpaste back in the tube.

As far as we know, he still has the $20.

It might be a good idea, when you're done squeezing that toothpaste tube, to tape it to the monitor of your computer.

If you spend much time on Facebook, Twitter or other social media sites, you're constantly squeezing out toothpaste about yourself that can never be retrieved.

Worse, some schools, government agencies and private employers have begun demanding that those under their authority grant access to Facebook accounts.

We can understand the temptation.

Some schools demand athletes "friend" a coach or other administrator so their postings and photos can be monitored to avoid embarrassment and other scandals. We remember one case, in the early days of social networks, where a college instructor lost his job over postings on his account.

There are even automated "reputation" monitors that report on questionable postings on social networks.

Some employers routinely demand usernames and passwords so they can check out potential employees.

A Maryland Department of Corrections policy came under fire when a corrections officer complained to the American Civil Liberties Union that he was forced to surrender his Facebook user name and password during an interview.

The agency suspended the policy after the ACLU got involved, but now has gone to a policy where job applicants have to log into their account and let the interviewer surf through their posts, friends and other material.

Of course, there are legitimate reasons a department of corrections might need access to a Facebook account, such as looking for gang affiliations or other criminal activity.

But we have to side with the ACLU when it comes to the idea of widespread snooping by authorities into private social network accounts.

In fact, it's actually a violation of Facebook terms of service to give someone else your username and password: "8. You will not share your password, (or in the case of developers, your secret key), let anyone else access your account, or do anything else that might jeopardize the security of your account."

Facebook and Twitter are great tools for keeping in contact with friends, sharing concerns and organizing activities.

But before baring our soul on the Internet, we need to remember that empty toothpaste tube and the futility of trying to refill it.

More laws are probably needed to protect the privacy of those of us who use social networks as a form of therapy, a means to share our joys, pains and concerns with family and friends.

But, to be safe, don't post anything on a social network site you wouldn't want anyone, any time, to be able to see.

Check out the complete policy here: https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms