Facebook (FB) sites you 'like' can haunt you

By now we've all heard stories of people posting things on Facebook that they end up regretting a few years later.

One of the first things prospective employers do is search your Facebook page, and it's now easier than ever to do that.

But there's now an easy way to clean up those old posts.
    
Be careful what you like!

"Liking" other Facebook pages can now get you in trouble, thanks to its new "Graph" search feature, which let people find out pages you have "liked," not just your posts. One news site says Graph "leaves little privacy and no opting out."

Result: A British blogger named Tom Scott was easily able to find "single people who enjoy getting drunk," and "married people who like prostitutes," among other things, thanks to pages they liked. How would you like your fiancee finding that?

The good news: A number of new apps, like "Facewash" will now search your Facebook history for inappropriate words and likes, so you can delete them. (As of Feb. 8, 2013, Facewash was changing its name to SimpleWash because of copyright issues.)

It's a good start.

Doesn't That Stink?

But from the "doesn't that stink" file, the fact that even a Facebook washing app won't weed out all the embarrassing things you have posted over the years. Doesn't that stink?

While it will quickly sort out the good likes -- such as your favorite stores -- from the bad ones, these apps don't find photos of you having too good a time with a beer in your hands, or the shirt off your back.

So think before you post.

My advice? Search your Facebook posts before prospective employers or potential spouses do.

That way you can clean up those embarrassing postings and "likes," and you don't waste your money.