THE invisible OB (out-of-bound) markers - yes that much dreaded word - have reached Facebook.
And I say that with a deep sigh. When I joined Facebook about two years ago, I always felt it was supposed to be this whole free-wheeling, personal, democratic platform - can post anything, can say anything - to my own detriment of course.
Then everyone, the whole world it seems (except for China, Brazil and some others where different social networks have caught on) got onto Facebook and a brave new world was created.
People started posting literally everything about their lives - photos, videos, and updates about what they are doing every hour and companies started to sit up and take notice.
What are my employees bitching about us (the bosses) on Facebook? Are they freely posting photos of last night's wild office party? Or worse, company secrets? Is everyone reading it?
Then came company policies about not talking about your work online. If you're lucky, they will even let you access Facebook at work but from what I hear, quite a few companies have blocked it.
Last week, I met with a web security firm who have started polling employees about how much time they spend on Facebook at work and how much moolah this is costing companies in terms of productivity.
But I digress.
Over the past few weeks, I learnt that the invisible Facebook OB markers have reached the Gen-Y NS recruits, who can't help but to update every aspect of their lives - including army life - online.
A few shrugged and said to me, "We're going to update anyway!". It is almost OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) I tell you.
To their credit, they ARE aware of military rules against posting too sensitive information on new media platforms, but seem to steadfastly think that whatever they are putting online is just fine.
IMO, I understand the need to discourage recruits forming online military groups - which countries like Israel is also doing. After all the Internet is a borderless world. Terrorists easily befriend hapless soldiers online and thereafter infiltrate military groups.
Facebook users really are a trusting lot, from polls that were conducted, they add everyone who requests to be their friend. Some people have 1,000 people on their list and don’t even know half of them.
But I'm wondering what's coming next, after companies and the country. My mum telling me to stop posting family pics on Facebook?