Did you know that in a recent survey 90 percent of adults said that they think people share too much on social media?

It’s certainly true that as social channels such as Twitter and Facebook rapidly integrate themselves into our everyday lives (both personal and professional), we’re becoming increasingly relaxed about what we choose to reveal about ourselves to our friends and followers. Indeed, it’s very easy to forget that, once published, the things you say and the way you behave online is potentially ‘out there’ forever – the camera, as they say, is always on.

And some of the information that we’re sharing could very easily get us into trouble. For example, millions of people frequently update their social statuses when they’re leaving the house, or publicly check into places throughout the day, thus revealing that they’re not at home. All of which correlates very nicely, thank you, with a study that revealed that 78 percent of burglars use sites like Facebook and Foursquare to identify potential targets.

Bottom line: there’s no need to be paranoid, but if you’re too flippant or overly dismissive about your online privacy it might well come back to hurt you.

While Facebook specific, this infographic from Online Education provides a good overview of how and why we share too much online, and might make you think twice before making that next revealing tweet or status update.

(Source: Online Education. Privacy image via Shutterstock.)