Your Shit Online

The question about "How much should you share on social media?" has been around for years now.  There are stories with happy endings, and some with tragic ones.  And yet, our online behavior has not changed; if anything, because of the degree in which technology has incorporated into our lives, we don't even question our online reveals any longer.

So, that Saturday with the delicious carpet food, you shared with us about the dude who had become frustrated about the Goodling and shit.  If there was a moral that I took away from it that I could apply to my life, it was "If you don't want people to find your shit online, then don't post it". Period.

So, I met up with a friend to sing karaoke in Concord later that night at a bar.  It's a little dingy hole in the wall frequented by Walnut Creek frat boys and the typical East-East-bay white trash.  It's fun.  It's so dysfunctional that it's fun. 

At one point, I went to the men's restroom which has all walls covered with tiles.  Taped to there were several sets of paper mustaches, along with one dollar bill with "For a good time call (xxx) xxx-xxxx".  Because of the mustaches, I thought it was a clever way for the bar to promote.  And I liked it, so I took the dollar bill of the wall and brought it home.  Out of curiosity, I google the number to see if it was the number to the bar, but it turned out it was not.  So my next step was to plug into Facebook.  Bingo.  Hot sexy stud of a man.  But, things were not making sense until I realized that someone had played a joke on him.  So, I actually texted him and sent him a picture of the dollar bill along with a message that said "This was hilarious.  And clever".  Dude replied with:  "My buddy Thomas gives great head, call him at *********".  So, the joke went into deeper.

I plugged in Thomas' phone number into Facebook and was able to pull a profile, with so much information:  married, with kids, likes to ride dirt bikes and hunting.  His wife works at a college up in the hills.  So on so forth. 

Anyway, what is the moral of my story?  You have no idea how much of yourself you are divulging to the world, and how easily traceable it can be?  With a phone number from a bathroom wall, I was able to pull so much information on these two strangers and their lives.  So, yeah... if you don't want it known, don't post it.