• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, July 25, 2013

 Have you ever posted something you later feared might get you fired? Not that it’s much comfort, but at least you’re not alone: it turns out 29% of young workers (ages 18-34) have posted a message, comment, photo, or other content which they were afraid might jeopardize their current job or cost them a future employment opportunity, according to a survey of 1,000 U.S. adults by FindLaw.com.

Meanwhile 21% of young workers surveyed said they have removed content they posted on social media because of fears it would get them fired, and 82% said they pay attention to their privacy settings, presumably in order to limit the damage from incriminating posts.

In good service-y Web fashion, FindLaw.com also offered some sensible advice for young workers to blithely ignore: think before you post; check your privacy settings; limit personal information; and seek legal help if you believe you were wrongly terminated. I will limit myself to the observation that after the first three suggestions, an interjection of “you idiots!” would not be wholly out of place.

There’s no question that stupidly posting stupid content can cost a person their stupid job. In June I wrote about a survey by On Device Research which found that roughly one in ten (8%) U.S. job-seekers ages 16-24 have lost a job opportunity because of something on their social media profiles.

On the employer side, last year a survey of 2,300 hiring managers conducted by CareerBuilder revealed that 40% use social media to screen job candidates, and a third of this group (13% of the total) said they have rejected an applicant based on what they found on social media.