The days when we used to take our albums occasionally and flip through the pages to reflect on past memories are gradually becoming obsolete. Few years ago, when we had guests, we usually gave them our albums while they glanced through them with laughter and amusement. 

All these have given way to a new epoch. Now we give our social media handles, instead of our albums. Social media has generally become a repository of memories. The first thing many people usually do when they wake up is to reach for their phones and check out what’s up on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and others.  

The downside of past methods of keeping memories was that the object used in keeping them could easily get corrupted. Fortunately for us in our era, nothing ever disappears from the web. If it's here today, it will be here 20 years from now. We MUST be cognisant of this when posting on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or other social media sites. 

 The tragedy is that, in the name of likes and comments, Many folks of late post carelessly on social media, without thinking about the repercussions. They usually forget that it will be there forever. Even if you delete it from your facebook account for example, they are still sitting on the facebook servers. 

Facebook says in their data policy that “When you delete your account, we delete things that you have posted, such as your photos and status updates, and you won't be able to recover that information later. Information that others have shared about you isn't part of your account and won't be deleted.” The problem here is that, even if you succeed in deleting all your personal photos, the ones people shared are still sitting on their servers. Even the ones that are deleted, if it’s absolutely necessary, Facebook can recover them by forensic means. 

People need consider the information below critically.

Questions you need to ask yourself before posting on social media

1.  Will I be happy to see this picture 20 years from now?

2. Can this picture destroy my marriage or relationship a few years from now?

3. Can this picture incriminate me in the nearest future?

4. Is this picture against my faith, or worldview?