But after “Think Before You Post,” I do now.

The “Think Before You Post” public service announcements, which are a product of the Ad Council, U.S. Department of Justice and National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, show the dangers of posting sensitive information on the Internet. The ads feature preteen girls posting way too much information and getting the nods from predator-type creeps.

The ad campaign is hitting on something that’s still a big issue — the illusion of privacy when it comes to the Internet.

Whether people realize it or not, their information is out there, though I don’t mean that in a weird, conspiracy-theorist way. After a party, it’s inevitable that someone will upload photos of drunken debauchery on any number of Web sites.

In the early days of Facebook.com, it wasn’t unusual to find most profiles containing cell phone numbers, addresses and lists of classes available for any fellow user to see. Addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses for students, staff and faculty are only a search away on www.msu.edu.

Internet Protocol addresses — the number attributed to each computer that’s connected to the Internet — can be tracked (take a look at www.whatismyipaddress.com), and so can a search history.

And of course, accounts can be broken into, Web sites can be hacked or people can simply forget to log off.

I’m sure everyone reading this has an anecdote about any one of these.

With recent controversies regarding Internet privacy issues, you’d think some people would become more on-guard about the information they make available.

There are stories of some police officers, potential employers and other officials scanning sites, such as Facebook and MySpace.com, looking for incriminating evidence. Using only a few pieces of personal information, people can make accounts in someone else’s name.

In a case involving an alleged Feb. 23, 2006 assault in Hubbard Hall, statements made on Facebook “walls” were used during a preliminary examination the following summer.

It isn’t surprising, however, that many people have little sense of Internet safety or privacy on the Web.

Essentially, “Internet privacy” is an oxymoron. But the pitfall I hear many people stumble into that although the information itself can be private it doesn’t mean it’s completely protected.

There shouldn’t be any expectation that what you post on the Internet, even if it’s “hidden,” will remain private.

You take a chance every time you post something, use your credit card number to make a purchase or visit a Web site.

In my generation that grew up on the Internet, we didn’t have these concerns — or at least they weren’t as pronounced as they are today. Many have become complacent with what they already know — pull up the browser, type in a Web address or Google something, and the rest is simple.

There’s no concept that these invisible IP addresses, search histories or long-term effects of that photo of you playing beer pong exist.

But unfortunately, using the Internet isn’t like riding a bike — once you’ve figured out how to use it, odds are it might not be the same way months or years from now. It’s something that constantly changes and something we constantly have to relearn.

And knowing what information can be seen and how is obviously a part of that. Surely the “better safe than sorry,” “look before you leap” and “look both ways before you cross the street” sayings cover it.

But those age-old lessons haven’t found a place in the Internet epoch quite yet.

Lindsey Poisson is the State News opinion writer. Reach her at poisson4@msu.edu.