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In an age when every aspect of our lives seems to end up on social media, we can all use a few reminders as to what should never be shared on Twitter even if you think it’s being sent via direct message.

With all the other avenues of communication available, Lauren Dugan of Media Bistro reminds us what to keep to ourselves as well as the consequences of not heeding this well-meant advice. (Anthony Wiener ring a bell?)

Your phone number

Don’t tweet your digits. Your Twitter follower can reach you in 140 characters, and maybe on your Facebook page and your blog… they don’t need to call you at 3a.m. with their brilliant retorts and cool articles they’re reading.

It’s probably a good idea to even avoid sending your number via direct message, as technical (and human) errors do happen, and if your number somehow makes it onto your public timeline, even a quick “delete” won’t be enough to battle waves of retweets.

Your body parts

Hands are OK. Face is fine. but below the belt shots are just too much for Twitter.

Learn from the most notorious body part tweeter, Anthony Wiener, whose political and personal life was shattered all because he decided posting a picture of his nether-regions to Twitter was a good idea. To be fair, Wiener did mean to send his racy photo via direct message, but slipped up and sent it to the entire world.

So keep your private parts off Twitter in any capacity, and save them for a mistaken entire-email-addressbook-cced message instead.

Full story at Media Bistro.

Rules for Twitter.

Photo credit: Fotolia