6 Things You Should Never Put on Facebook

Facebook is an easy and efficient way to stay in touch with family and friends. Over 500 million people worldwide use it, and more than half of them login daily. Tens of thousands of statuses, comments, likes and photos are uploaded every day. This article lists several things you should never post on Facebook.

Or a business trip, or the annual visit to see the in-laws. Posting onto Facebook that your house is going to be empty for a significant amount of time is like yelling up and down your street to the local burglars. You wouldn't tell everyone around you that your home is going to be vulnerable to theft, so why post it on the internet

Upload your holiday photos after you get back if you want to, but don't go telling everyone the exact dates you're going to be away. Really, you don't know who's reading your information.

It might seem harmless to post your birthday on your general information, but don't forget that this is a vital part of your personal information that can be used for identity fraud. Many profiles feature people's real names, workplaces and relatives' names - adding your birthday just makes you more vulnerable to strangers knowing far too much about you.

An easy way to solve this is simply by putting your birthday visibility to "Only Me" in the Privacy Settings tab - you'll still get birthday greetings from your friends, but the exact date and year won't be visible on your profile.

Many proud parents like to post updates of their child's progress, cute photos of them with food all over their face, or statuses about their first day of school. Whilst it's a faster way to share your little one's life with friends and relatives, it can also be dangerous.

Posting so much information about your son or daughter on the internet leaves them vulnerable. People can easily find out their names, their school and what they look like - and even toys and TV shows they enjoy. If someone knows this much about your child, it can be extremely dangerous for them. Think before you post something about your child onto the internet.

A surprising amount of people completely forget that they have their boss on Facebook, and post something such as this which gets them into trouble. Are you supposed to be at work but took the day off to enjoy the sunshine?

Are you supposed to be at an important meeting but decided to go to the cinema instead? Are you stripping off in the office when the boss has left the room? If it's the case, keep it off Facebook.

This one has caught out a lot of people. Many find it necessary to post their woes, frustrations and feelings as a Facebook status in the hope of sympathy. What some people forget is that their boss or coworkers might see it, and it might cost them their job.

Even if your boss isn't on Facebook, don't complain about your life on social media! At best you might get a little sympathy, but really it just makes people uncomfortable. If you're frustrated, talk it out with your spouse, a friend or your mum on the phone the good old-fashioned way.

Some people find it easier to communicate from behind a keyboard, but messages of love on your girlfriend or boyfriend's public wall, complaints about the family or actual arguments with people are best left to real life, not a public display.

If things that are so personal are on Facebook, everyone you have as a friend will instantly know about it - and a lot of people have Facebook nowadays. Take a look at this embarrassing public display. (Warning: explicit language).

If you absolutely must have Facebook, keep status posting and photographs to a minimum. Stay mysterious and interesting. if you're posting every facet of your life onto social media, you are no longer interesting, because anyone and everyone can know everything about you with the smallest amount of effort. Above all, avoid the red flags mentioned above!