ED YUWONO, CRYPTOAUSTRALIA: One day, something's going to happen that: hey, look... Oops, I shouldn't have said that out. But it's too late. We can't grab that back. Once it's already on the internet, once it's already in these data stores, we can't grab this stuff back.

JEREMY FERNANDEZ, PRESENTER: Oops indeed. That was from a recent 'crypto party' event in Sydney.

Crypto parties are part of a global movement to teach people how to protect their privacy on the internet. And that includes tips on making amends when you suffer from 'Facebook regret'.

Surveys suggest that, at some point, most of us have over-shared or misunderstood our privacy settings when posting. And now other studies show most employers are checking social media behaviour of job candidates - and sometimes even looking up their employees.

So that might explain why the team here at Lateline looked a bit like this when we volunteered to have our social media posts - all of them from the very beginning - included in a report analysing our online behaviour.

(Montage of Lateline staff looking pensively at their smart phones)

JEREMY FERNANDEZ: I'll let Margot O'Neill take up the story at this point, because she was the one who convinced us it would be 'so good to know'.

MARGOT O'NEILL, REPORTER: OK, yep, there's no doubt my colleagues were nervous; which is understandable, because they suddenly had to remember everything they'd ever posted during the last 10 years or more.

(Footage of Lateline staff standing in office, looking at their smart phones)

CAPTIONS: Did I delete that photo?

Did I ever swear?

People knew I was joking, right?

FIONA MCLEAN, THE SOCIAL INDEX: It is normal to feel anxious and, as you reflect on what you've done, does the things you've done in your 20s matter as much in your 30s?

MARGOT O'NEILL: This is Fiona McLean from the Australian start-up, The Social Index. It provides employers with an independent assessment of an individual's social media behaviour.

And this is a sample report. It measures how many sites you're on, when you post, your tone and anything relevant to your job application, including other interests.

FIONA MCLEAN: So we're offering it in a sort of third-party way because it provides a balance and some discretion between the candidate and the employer.

MARGOT O'NEILL: Surveys show that most employers now profile a candidate's social media. But Fiona McLean says it's often a messy Google search, which can provide an incomplete snapshot.

FIONA MCLEAN: And you've really got to make sure that those who are doing this online assessment without any parameters are actually very well trained in a whole range of things around bias.

MARGOT O'NEILL: Who knew Facebook an Twitter would end up being another part of your resume? But get used to it. In one US survey last year, nearly half of employers said they decided not to hire someone because of what they found on social media.

About 30 per cent also searched the social media of current employees; and about a quarter of those employers said they'd found reasons to either reprimand or fire an employee.

But come on. Don't we all make mistakes online? What about those party photos?

FIONA MCLEAN: I think everyone has had awkward moments. What we're really looking for is how those things evolve over time.

So if you're out every night when you're 17, 18 or 19, which is highly likely and somewhat encouraged, but you're still doing that 12 years later, we'd want to know what's evolved for you.

MARGOT O'NEILL: OK. What about political or religious advocacy online? What if the company supports gay marriage...

(Footage of pro- and anti-marriage equality protests)

MARGOT O'NEILL: ...and the candidate doesn't? Or if the candidate criticises the Government's refugee policy, when the company relies on Government work?

(Footage of rally protesting against mandatory detention of refugees)

PROTESTERS: Free, free, free the refugees!

MARGOT O'NEILL: Keep in mind: workers are protected from discrimination based on religious or political beliefs, among other things.

FIONA MCLEAN: We may not necessarily mind which view you have, but we need to understand how you're handling that conversation online.

So if the conversation is highly aggressive, that would raise some behavioural questions that you'd want to investigate further.

I think the challenge becomes when people are putting online things that are racist or forms of bullying, because quite often that behaviour translates very easily from online into the workplace.

MARGOT O'NEILL: Most workers are uncomfortable about being profiled in this way and often do not know it is being done, according to an Australian survey of employees last year. The Social Index reports only with an individual's consent.

But what about the traditional separation between a worker's private and professional lives? Increasingly on social media, the answer seems to be: there is no distinction.

FIONA MCLEAN: I think that's definitely changed, if not non-existent any more. And more often than not we have talked to people saying, "Well, my Facebook is for private use." And then they've said, "But all of my work colleagues and my boss are on there." It's like: "Well, I think you've merged the two."

ED YUWONO: OK. Wow. It's good to see a full house tonight. Thanks, everyone. Tonight we're going to be talking about social media sanitisation.

CAPTION: How to sanitise your social media.

MARGOT O'NEILL: No wonder these events, showing people how to 'sanitise' their social media, are overflowing.

ED YUWONO: Expletives: not safe for work. Obviously, if you're going to apply for a job and you have some not-safe-for-work stuff on your Facebook profile, you'll probably want to take that down as soon as possible.

MARGOT O'NEILL: But as you're about to see, your options are limited.

ED YUWONO: So the thing we're going to cover: we're going to cover the 'Fortress' option.

CAPTION: Option one. Fortress.

ED YUWONO: The first option we've got is the 'Fortress' option. And that's when we lock down all the settings so that only you and your immediate contacts would have access to your personal information.

Moving on to the next one: 'search and destroy'.

CAPTION: Option two. Search and destroy.

ED YUWONO: That's when you actually go through Facebook's timeline option and you look for all the things that could be incriminating or that could be embarrassing. Then that's when you (inaudible) and delete.

The third option: the 'nuke' option.

CAPTION: Option three. Nuke it all.

ED YUWONO: The 'nuke' option effectively takes your online profile - so your Facebook profile - and deletes it completely or deletes the contents. So what you remain with is an empty shell. However, that is quite an extreme option.

MARGOT O'NEILL: But there are still a couple of catches. Even if you nuke it, it is likely your digital life is still traceable in other people's social media or on other commercial and government platforms that scooped up your data. And all that effort to eradicate your profile may actually count against you.

That US survey of employers last year found that 40 per cent were less likely to interview a candidate who had no social media presence.

So worrying about mistakes isn't enough. You also have to worry whether your social media is influential and can boost your job prospects.

Turns out the teenagers were right all along: how many likes and shares do we get?

FIONA MCLEAN: We're really looking at how you're able to create an action and engagement in your network: so being able to create activity and engagement and comments means two things: you might be able to really build good relationships with people - so indications of being a team player or a good leader or both; and secondly, you like to drive outcomes. You like to get activity. You like to see reactions.

MARGOT O'NEILL: It's kind of exhausting thinking about it all. But the fact is: Facebook, Twitter and others are increasingly seen as an extension of our professional personas.

At least Lateliners can feel reassured. Thankfully for us here at the ABC, our score for online commentary was rated 'neutral'.

JEREMY FERNANDEZ: You can also look at our report on the ABC News website for a great summary of what to do and what not to do on your social media. That piece is called 'Sanitising your social media: a guide for job hunters'.

And that's good to know.