Today, a news anchor found himself in hot water over a Twitter post that included a comment President Obama made off the record about Kanye West’s outburst at the VMAs earlier this week.

This is the perfect reminder about the power of social media and how, if used incorrectly, it can embarrass you, your company and even cost you your job.

Before you tweet—especially on behalf of your company—or utilize other social media tools, ask yourself these important questions:

1. Could someone be offended by this information? If you have to ask, DO NOT POST IT!
2. Would I be okay with my boss, kids or grandmother seeing this information? Never forget, the Internet is a public forum and not everything can be deleted.
3. Does my company have a social media policy? If so, am I following it? To see why social media policies are so important check out this past B2B Fishbowl post.

Don’t be a reckless Tweeter. Be professional. You’ll thank yourself later and chances are, you’ll still be employed.

Whose moment did Kanye West steal? If you’re the first person to comment with the name of a song by that person, you win your own Canyon “buzz”ness card!