Social networking is the fad these days. May you be in school or at work, you’ll miss out on most conversations if you don’t have any idea what Facebook and Twitter is all about.

For the surprisingly unfamiliar, Facebook is a social network founded in 2004 which enables the user to join a virtual social structure or organization and share information about and between themselves. Twitter, on the other hand, is a microblogging service which enables users to send and receive messages.

With everything that these social networks can offer – new friends, games, an outlet for relaxation and/or venting your anger – it’s not surprising that most people turn to them for the different purposes that it can give them. A lot of people swear that these sites have helped them in many possible ways while others believe that these sites have helped them become better persons.

A Japanese journalist held hostage in Afghanistan for five months managed to send out a message via Twitter that he was alive when his captors asked him how to use a cell phone, as reported by the Associated Press Tuesday.

Last year, during the onslaught of Typhoon Ondoy and Pepeng in the Philippines, millions of Filipinos and people abroad took to Facebook and Twitter for updates about the damage caused by the typhoons. Others have used these social networks to ask for help and pledge donations for the victims.

However, people have also been in hot water for their different activities with regard to these online venues. Many have lost their jobs for browsing and using these sites during office hours. Others go as far as firing their employees through these networks.

Only recently, a juror in a Detroit trial have been dismissed after posting a Facebook status about the defendant being “guilty” even before the trial was over.

Fortunately, there are things that you can do in order to avoid being subjected to this predicament. Lifehack.org has made a list of things you should do (or not do) in online venues like Facebook and Twitter:

• Don’t do it during work time unless you have permission to do so.
• Don’t post anything that you wouldn’t feel comfortable posting or discussing in the lunchroom at work. 
• Remove comments posted by others that can get you into trouble.
• Raise your privacy settings.
• Do not ever admit to anything even remotely resembling a crime.
• Don’t disclose personal information that you are not comfortable having out there.
• Monitor your information.
• Be considerate of others when you are posting things.
• Don’t discuss confidential stuff online.
• Be careful if you mix your personal and business online.