There’s a serious point to think about when studying this tongue-in-cheek infographic on what to consider when posting your status update – or any other message – to popular online social networking services.

You might think about which service to post what to – I do, especially when checking in somewhere (so Foursquare is my primary choice) or when commenting on something that would benefit from more than the 140 characters Twitter allows me (so Google+ or LinkedIn depending on what it’s about, who’s in my community there and how I would like any potential conversation to develop).

But do you think of whether to post? That you could do it, but should you? I like how this amusing graphic makes that choice a central part of its message.

Rule of thumb: before you click or tap, just ask yourself – what would your boss (or your mother) say if she saw your update?

A poorly-judged click or tap can have unwelcome consequences.

Related post:

• Ruthlessly enforcing a code of silence