Social Networking and Privacy

We keep hearing those news bits about how many followers Sarah Palin has on Facebook. If I am not mistaken, her Facebook popularity is more than US President Obama. Notwithstanding the oft repeated, quotes and statements released by celebrities on their Social networking accounts. Well, it works it seems for them..and their followers.
The concept of social networking is not new. Even in the earliest Unix, there were users and user-groups. And special usergroups like bulletin board, newsgroup, social chat rooms etc were also very common. I remember back in the day, I mean, about 10 years ago when Internet and dotcom was a hot thing, everyone was seen 'chatting' now and then. I'm not suggesting that I'm any better, for I have my own share of chat-addiction.
Anyway, back to the original, special user groups from multitiasking, multiuser OS like Unix, Linux grew into chat-rooms and then further evolved into social networking sites.
With this advent, some work has increased for the geeks managing these sites. I'm referring to the Privacy concerns; and how it has become more relevant when you are online on public sites with many followers and friends. And so are the malicious minds. Always looking at opportunities to have some fun or psychological satisfaction at the cost of other users online. So yes, social networking is popular. Privacy in those social networks is more important still.
Some of the simple tricks and tips can go a long way. First of all, is it necessary to have millions or even thousands of followers/friends? I'd be lucky if I could have a few dozen. But you get the point, the more the people who have access to your information, the more likely your account will get cracked sooner.
Then the next thing is how often to you get online? All the time? some times or rarely? If you are one of those who are networking even in their sleep, then I think that you have a problem, the security of your account is as secure as your network connection. In very rare instances, in my opinion, does one have to access their social network from an insecure or public connection. Internet cafes, insecure wireless networks and hotspots are like magnets for crackers. The third and most important detail in my mind is the amount of information you make public. To be very frank, you can network easily based on a alias or without having to share your birthdate, address, marital status etc. Crackers are looking for that info eagerly. So you in the start and end can help prevent any attack on your account..