Facebookers users need to grow up and realize the information they are putting on line can be used against them a leading Irish psychologist Dr Ciarán McMahon has warned.

He warned men in particular that they need to be on their guard and use privacy safeguards.

He stated men were far more likely  than women to discuss relate content relating to drugs, drinking and sex which could later come back to haunt them.

Women, he said  by contrast use Facebook to maintain relationships and as a means of communication.

He also warned more and more prospective employers were going onto Facebook to see what prospective employees had posted.
The "whole nightmare scenario" of an employer checking out potential employees was also "scientifically justified" he said as Facebook profiles are now proven  "accurately reflect personalities".

Facebook he said can also a person’s psychological state.

"The constant updating of status, the constant uploading of photos and the need to join large numbers of groups can reflect high levels of narcissism or low esteem. You will find the narcissist will have lots of pictures of themselves while the person with the lower self-esteem will have lots of pictures of other people. The person with the low self-esteem tends to have a ‘low sense of self’ and finds a validation in social networking that they may not find in more traditional social situations," he told the Irish Examiner newspaper.