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"We're probably not the first ones to tell you that when it comes to social media, you're better off playing it safe. From sexting to grand proclamations of doomed love on Facebook and tweets you'd give just about anything to take back, there's a whole lot of ways that your social presence can come back to haunt you. Luckily, there are also a good many tips and skills you can add to your arsenal that will prevent you from sharing something you might regret. We picked five that have saved our butts from from social media self-sabotage time and time again. Learn from our mistakes, people.\n\nYou post a selfie of an impromptu beach trip\u2026on a day you called in sick.\n\nReal talk: We think everyone deserves a day to play hooky every once in a while (so long as you're not skipping out on anything important, that is). But when you're Facebook friends with everyone you work with, posting pics of your hooky day when you're supposed to be home in bed is definitely going to raise few eyebrows. So what should a girl do? Well, first of all, consider being a little picky when it comes to bringing co-workers, professors, or sometimes even classmates into your social media circle. It's good to draw lines between work and play: that helps you share personal stuff only on a need-to-know basis.\n\nOur other suggestion is to skip the urge to self-document your vacay day: Ferris Bueller wouldn't have gotten away with his afternoon out if he was sharing his adventures on Instagram, and neither will you. Save those pics for a #tbt post a few weeks in the future, and even then tag them with something vague along the lines of \"a relaxing day spent beachside.\" #gottalovethelatergram\n\nAll your vacation pics are geotagged\u2014i.e. anyone with access to your profile might realize there's nobody at your home\n\nWe remember a time when our parents put on auto-timed lights before we left vacation to trick people into thinking someone was home. But these days\u2014be it your family abode, dorm room, or first apartment\u2014posting pics from abroad conveys that your private space is unoccupied and vulnerable. So before you start geo-tagging, consider holding off off on photo sharing until you get back, or skipping the location-based share. #bettersafethansorry\n\nYour best friend got into a really amazing college, and you're the first person to congratulate her online. Even before she shares the news herself.\n\nFirst of all, take a deep breath. Everyone spills the beans sometimes, even with the best of intentions (we've done this one, and if your BFF is anything like ours, she'll forgive you). Luckily, this flub has an easy future-fix even if you can't un-tell her special surprise. Repeat after us: \"When there is a significant event in someone else's life, I will let them be the first to post about it.\" There are some exceptions\u2014like in cases where say, someone's event has a hashtag they created themselves, like #sarahssweetsixteen\u2014but for the most part, that's the Golden Rule of social sharing, only second to treat others online the way you would like to be treated (aka #karma). Which brings us to our next point...\n\nYou wake up to a hundred unflattering photos of yourself from the night before.\n\nThere are few feelings worse to waking up and looking at your phone on a Sunday morning and seeing that a snap-happy bud has tagged you in 100 pictures you didn't know about (let's also get one thing straight: Friends shouldn't post icky pics of one another on social channels). And sure, sometimes you'll find a photo of yourself unflattering that your friend group thinks is fab\u2014we're often our own worst critics\u2014so try not to freak out at the Facebook alert. But if these are pics you really don't like, it's totally fine to untag yourself. You can also change privacy settings so that you have to review all photos of yourself before they appear on your Facebook timeline.\n\nAnd in the event that there's something really rough that went up and the picture post-er won't take it down, you're totally within your rights to report it and use Facebook's tools to help remove it.\n\nYou're social stalking your ex and freak out that somehow he just knows\n\nGreat news! There is no software to speak of that does this (our lives may have become less private, but not enough that your ex knows when you're #stalking their page). Still though, we'd have to recommend\u2014not just for your peace of mind but for getting past them and on to something new\u2014stay off'a that profile page. Out of sight, out of mind doesn't just apply when it comes to in-person connections\u2014it's true for social, too.\n\nHave you ever had a social faux pas come back and bite you? Tell us your story in the comments below!"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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