Facebook and social-networking has been around long enough now that we all intuitively understand that anything posted, dropped, tagged, or otherwise submitted in cyber-space is essentially public domain and irretrievable from the ether. However, a new study has now put hard numbers to an issue that has been commonly understood to be true; Millenials tend to consider social-networking sites a purely social space. This gets one into a lot of trouble, which is also a finding in the recent study. Although there may come a time when the personal and professional lives of individuals can no longer be separated, that time is not now. Keep your drunk face off the internet.

Facebook has over 800 million users worldwide, with a disproportionate number being of the Millenial generation (aged 18 to 29). The study, conducted by Millenial Branding, focused on the Facebooking habits of this particular generation, being the up-and-coming constituency of our modern workforce. their ultimate finding? Millenials use Facebook for primarily personal purposes, regardless of the fact that they're still friending coworkers. That may not sound too terrible, given that many people befriend coworkers and create their own social circles with them. However, there's no telling who you coworker "friends" have also "friended", and givent he ubiquity with which Facebook makes online content networked and readily available, it's very easy for that office after-party picture of you pretending to hump your passed-out best friend over the empty keg to end up on your boss' desktop. On average, people 18-29 have friended a total of 16 coworkers, regardless of the fact that they tend to define themselves by their colleges (over 80% list a college on their profile) than their workplace (only 36% list their employer).

However, there's another strand to this story that was uncovered by Millenial Branding, and that is the entrepreneurial streak among Millenials. Only 7% of Millenials work for a Fortune 500 company, and "Owner" is the fifth most popular employment title among them because startups and small businesses are major sources of employment for this generation. That said, hospitality and service industries are still the largest hirers among Millenials that are struggling to get a foot into the work force in a down economy. On one hand Millenials, as a whole, may just care a little less about what goes out into their social cyberspace if they're working for themselves. On the other hand, with employers checking Facebook as a reliable witness to the character and integrity of potential employees, it may be a good idea to carefully self-edit when posting.