Setting Your Privacy Online

It seems everybody is reporting about the biggest form of online communication: social networking. No matter where you go, it seems every person and business out there is taking use of the latest internet craze. From Facebook profiles of celebrities to Twitter-only specials from your favorite companies, everyone is there. So how do you keep your privacy in this increasingly-public world?  
One of the biggest steps to keeping some semblance of privacy on social networks is keeping an eye on your privacy settings. Most social networking sites have accessibility controls you can set so only certain networks can see your updates and information, instead of the entire internet. You can manage these permissions to your liking, letting everyone see some things, but not all - a practical way to hide pictures of that wild party in college from any potential employers.  
If you have major concerns about privacy, but still want to use the networking opportunities from social network sites, you can also start profiles under pseudonyms. These profiles will allow you to search and network without any of your sensitive information being made public. However, you need to remember that once you put personal information or photographs up, the pseudonym will be made pointless.   
Setting your privacy on social networks may seem like a painful task, but it's really not very hard to do. As long as you keep your accessibility restricted and tabs on what sort of image of you is being portrayed by pictures other people post, your privacy will be respected and kept, no matter which network is being used.