Yesterday we published this story about some high-profile individuals who lost their jobs because of some unruly Facebook activity. If you’re thinking to yourself, “uh-oh, I love partying and taking pictures to post on Facebook, but I kind of want to have a job one day,” relax. You can have your cake and eat it, too.  Just make sure you’re utilizing all the appropriate privacy settings.  There are several steps to take to ensure your safety online, so just follow these tips!

1. Make all of your photos “Friends Only”

Tempting as it may be to leave photos up, it’s much safer to make them “Friends Only.” That way you know for certain who has access to your pictures. To do this, go here and under the option “Photos tagged of you,” click the drop-down menu and select “Only Friends.”

You should also do the same for Videos of You and all of your own photo albums (just click “Edit Photo Albums Privacy Settings” next to the”Photos Tagged of You” option). Even if you don’t tag your own photos, they’re still visible to anyone who has access to your profile.  By making your photos “Friends Only,” you don’t run the risk of having potential employers stumbling upon that glorious shot of you flipping the bird while sucking down a 40. Which brings me to the next point…

2. Make your profile private (or at least disable some applications).

Everyone’s a Facebook stalker, no matter if they’re a potential employer or a potential boyfriend. So while it may seem appealing to allow Mr. Hot Stuff to view your profile and read from your wall posts that you had such a great time at the bars last weekend, you can’t trust that a future boss will have the same enthused reaction. And most Facebook users  have their profiles set so that other people in their networks can see them. So if you belong to a regional network (especially in big cities like New York, LA, DC, and Boston), remember that anyone can join and belong to them, too.  So to control what information people see when they search you, go here and under the options “Profile” and “Wall Posts” click the drop-down menu and select “Only Friends.” You should consider doing the same for your Basic Info, Personal Info, and Status Updates as well (particularly if you list under “Interests” all of your favorite rums…). Even if you have a tame profile for the most part, you never know when a friend might post a questionable comment or YouTube video on your wall. Better to be safe than sorry.

 3. Choose your default wisely!

All of these new privacy settings would mean nothing if the Big Kahuna, your default Facebook photo, isn’t family-friendly. Save the sexy memories of Halloween (yes you looked cute as a hot nurse)  for your newly-protected other photos, and choose a default that is flattering but not reputation-damaging. If the default-in-question features ANYONE (even if it’s not you) drinking, inappropriately dressed, making obscene gestures and/or alluding to racist/sexist materia, ditch it! Furthermore, make sure to go into your Profile Picture album and delete any questionable defaults from the past. If your settings enable anyone on Facebook to view your default when they search for you, it’s possible they can view any of your past default photos (since Facebook automatically saves them into that album).

 4. Remove personal information that can potentially enable identity theft.

Being wary of potential employers isn’t the only reason to keep your profile clean. Identity theft is a real and scary part of the world these days–and most of the information used by theives can be found on a typical Facebook profile! Never publish the year you were born (the month and day is okay, but not foolproof), your address, and your phone number all at once. This information makes it much easier for scammers to open credit cards in your name, or at least track you down and possibly go through your trash (ALWAYS cut up or shred discarded mail).

 5. Don’t make your Facebook searchable on Google!Nowadays, it’s possible for your Facebook to be viewed even by people who do not have Facebook. Don’t believe me? Type your name as it appears on Facebook into Google and see if your profile shows up. If it does (and even if it doesn’t) follow this link to disable Facebook from making your profile searchable on the internet (unclick the “Create a public search listing” box). Not only can potential employers find you this way, but so can mom and dad, nana and papa, and…yeah, the whole free world.

Additionally, if you visit the Facebook Help Page, you can learn everything you ever wanted to know about anything on Facebook. I’ve been a Facebook user for years now and this site taught me quite a few things…particularly on the functions of Pokes.

What am I going to be using it for? If you’re buying a fake primarily just to buy your friends booze every once in awhile, it’s probably not worth it to go through the whole process of getting one. It would be easier to just find an older friend to buy for you. If you want one to get into concerts, bars, clubs, comedy clubs, etc., with friends who also have fakes or who are older, then it’s more beneficial for you to have one. This way you’re at least getting your money’s worth, and you know for sure you have others who can join you in your illegal adventures.

Who am I buying one off of? Some of my friends have gotten fakes from a random sketchy place down in Chinatown. Even though they only paid 60 bucks for it, the ID says that it’s not government issued and a lot of places haven’t accepted them. Needless to say, they got sh*tty fakes.

It’s better to buy a fake ID off of someone who will show you what his fakes look like and who has some references so you know how the IDs have held up. Even better is someone who will replace your ID if it doesn’t end up scanning or if you don’t like the end result.

Keep in mind, some good fake IDs are pricey. I know of friends who make un-scannable IDs for 80 bucks while certain ID’s that do scan cost between $100-$150.

Am I ready to deal with the consequences if I get caught? This is a HUGE question to ask yourself before buying a fake because you never know what can happen or how your area deals with IDs. My friend was caught with a fake ID in my small hometown and arrested for it while two of my friends caught in NYC just had their’s taken away with a slap on the wrists. Depending on who catches you, there can be major consequences that could seriously eff up the rest of your life. NEVER take buying a fake lightly.

All in all, my friends who have fakes have been happy and understand the risks involved. Mine has held up for more then a year with no problems (knock on wood) — although I am very picky about where I go with it.

Two more details to keep in mind: know what the real state ID of your fake looks like and ALWAYS have your real name on the fake. Using a fake name is identity theft and if caught, your charges will be worse.

If you’re not up to getting a fake, using an older friend’s ID works too. Or…you know, just wait until you’re 21.

Any thoughts or advice on fakes? Would you get one?

Single White Female

It’s natural for friends to take on certain personality traits from spending so much time together. Similar phrases are shared, personal style melds and becomes less personal, and dislikes are much more likable if your BFF sings its praises and persuades you unwittingly while doing so. Those things are natural.

So when I complained about having my personality hijacked by a close friend, a much more forgiving friend advised that, “Imitation is the greatest form of flattery.”

Well, I think that’s bullsh*t.

Imitation is scary and frankly, quite annoying. Buying the same bag, not a big deal. Asking where I purchased my shoes (which, yes, are AMAZING) totally understandable–I was just lucky enough to find them first. Saying “word” just like me every time I mean to say “yes”, understandable (yes is overrated). Getting my same hair cut (bangs included) after saying you’d never be able to pull it off, IS ANNOYING. Plagiarizing entire paragraphs of my stories, my jokes and my soul, is just straight vexatious.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.

Whether it’s insecurity or admiration, being anyone other than yourself is a pointless activity. You do “you” best. So be who you are, adore and cherish your friends qualities, adapt what you learn from them and make it your own. Share with each other but don’t become each other, or you’ll never know all of the great things you already possess, that are possess-able.

[Been in relationship with a copy cat? Do tell!]

In fact, that money is spent on clothes, nights out, and my astronomical rent (woo, New York City!) so fast that a budget is almost a laughable concept.

I’m willing to bet (I spend my money on gambling too, apparently) that you just may be in the same financial boat, which is why College Candy is here to help your broke ass out.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that budgeting your money isn’t so bad because–gasp!–it is now possible to manage your finances the same way we all manage our friends! How, you ask?

Social networking! It seems to be the only way we know how to do anything anymore. But, it’s so obvious! You gotta love it.

Financial social networking sites like Wesabe.com and Geezeo.com are here to save the day…and your pocketbook!

It works like traditional money managing software like Quicken or Money, but here’s the catch…your peers can offer feedback on just how well you are spending your paycheck. They can offer tips and tricks that may increase your savings or slash your debt. (Can they leave drunken wall posts too?)

The idea seems too good to be true! We all can use a (free) financial advisor and this offers us thousands! And I could use all the help I can get. Down and out college student? Don’t pretend your wallet couldn’t use a little boost or that you “don’t get it”. You use Facebook, right? Then get your poor butt in gear and start getting responsible!

And for all you worry worts out there, the networks are on lockdown. They work like standard banking sites, which means your personal info isn’t going to get in the grubby little hands of identity theives.

Your only worry now?

Who’s more trustworthy? A virtual stranger telling you to go for that loan or your own Prada-obsessed brain itching for a fashion fix?

My favorite gag was calling up girls from our class and pretending to be the Spice Girls. We’d put on our awful English accents and pretend that our weekly victim had won the chance to have a sleepover with the Spice Girls. Cruel, I know.

Worse, though, is the fact that our gimmick worked. Week after week, gullible girl after gullible girl believed that we were the Spice Girls.

Then… circa 1997, there was an influx in the sales of a certain device: the caller id.

And the unfortunate prevalence of caller ids made our Friday afternoon delights implausible. After a few “I know it’s you, Sarah! The Spice Girls don’t have a 7-1-8 area code!”s, fun Fridays came to an end.

But today, the caller id has lost its power. Rather than an influx in caller id sales, there has been a current influx in caller id spoofing websites.

Caller id spoofing? It’s every prank caller’s godsend, and just about everybody else’s worst enemy.

These websites allow you to manipulate the name and number that appears on the caller id of the person you’re calling.

It’s quite simple. You go to one of the many websites which offer this service (some are free, others require a subscription and fee), type in the information you’d like to appear on your victim’s caller id and then call said victim through the website’s service.

Seriously, my adolescence would’ve been much easier if these websites had been around. That time I wanted to sleep over a boy’s house, I could’ve called my dad from “my friend’s house” to say I was sleeping there. Or when I wanted to tell my crush that his slut of a girlfriend was cheating on him, I could’ve called pretending to be the other guy (yea, some of these sites even have voice changers).

Ugh, I could’ve wrecked havoc.

But that’s the problem with these services: while I would’ve used caller id spoofing to ruin a few teenage lives, these sites can’t distinguish between catty pranks and outright schemes.

Con-artists are using these sites to steal identities. By calling from “banks” and “credit card companies,” thieves can trick people into giving away sensitive information needed for identity theft.

And, kiddies, identity theft is not cool. Someone once ordered $500 worth of flowers to be delivered to Russia on my credit card. It kind of sucked.

That being said, these websites—when used for harmless (or not) prank calls—are pretty cool. And, you know the Spice Girls are supposed to be having a reunion. I’m feeling a prank call comeback…