As the use of social media continues to explode worldwide, several recent stories have broken that are pointing to the fact that you need to be extra careful on what you post to your personal pages these days because you never know who is looking at them.

Yesterday, March 29, a court in the Philippines mandated that a Catholic girls' school reluctantly let five students participate in their graduation ceremony after they were originally told they couldn’t attend due to  photos the teens posted on Facebook (News - Alert) that showed them in bikinis (gasp!).

Is this too harsh a punishment for these girls, when I constantly see pictures of females on Facebook who are wearing next to nothing? That you will have to decide for yourself, but in this case Judge Wilfredo Navarro of central Cebu City stated that St. Theresa's College High School’s decision to ban the students from this once in a lifetime ceremony is “un-Christian and unlawful.”

 School officials responded that the girls were "engaging in immoral, indecent, obscene or lewd acts," by showing these pictures to the public via their pages. Officials ultimately let them receive their diplomas but the teens could not be present at related activities or ceremonies.

 Its look like the high school’s overly strict opinion was overruled, as luckily these girls will be front and center at their graduation, hopefully though not wearing bikinis.

Additionally, just this morning, a Philippine Catholic school stated that it will not be giving diplomas to six high school boys who uploaded Facebook photos that show them kissing one another, according to an education official.

After being questioned about the photos, Department of Education officer Samuel Mergenio revealed that the boys said it was just a prank and their lips never actually came in contact with one another. The incriminating snapshots were also never meant to be seen by the public, as they were uploaded on accident.

Although the pictures were not taken at the boys' school named Infant Jesus Academy which is located in the Manila suburb of Marikina, they were wearing school uniforms, a major factor which greatly contributed to the recent uproar.

As of just a few hours ago, the school's chancellor issued a statement that the boys will be allowed to go to graduation but "the release of their diplomas will be delayed."

Now if these two stories aren’t enough to convince you to be aware of what you post could potentially wreak havoc on your life, this one might. With the still unsteady economy here in the United States, those individuals who are still pounding the pavement in search of a job should be aware that employers are searching for you on Facebook and some have even taken the extra step of demanding you give them your password.

“So many people use the Internet, and particularly social media, as a way to explain who and what they are to the world that it would be foolish not to check," said Director or Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity at the University of Southern Mississippi, Becky Woodrick in a statement.

Woodrick added that since the information is readily available, it only makes sense to check out your potential new employee before hiring them, but asking for a password is an invasion of privacy.

Whatever your feelings are on social media, this global trend is getting more popular by the minute. So the lesson to live by here is never post anything you would be embarrassed for granny to see.