However, here's my solution to making life a lot easier – Find a way to incorporate your social life into your personal brand and you won't have to worry that much anymore. Thoughts?

Me – I try to be careful to never post anything on twitter, et al, that I don't want a potential business partner or client to find. Perhaps this is why I'm so much more active on facebook!

Nonetheless, the point may be moot. As a society we are being conditioned to share – filters are for old people. I suspect this trend is not likely to change. We'll just have to learn to live in this new context. At least until the Internet ceases to exist.

I'll just have to spend some extra time educating my kids as to the more slippery problems of public broadcast.

To start, Kobe didn't smash into public property…and Kobe didn't have them coming out of the woodwork like Tiger has….DAILY!!

I actually also think that it is because he was such a straight-laced dude, or so we all thought…boring even! I mean Kobe seemed like a cooler guy, style-wise, you know??

Meanwhile, Tiger is doing things behind the scenes that would make Dave Navarro blush.

Oh and he is a GOLFER!!! The gentleman's sport!! Basketball has long been known for it's thugs and ladies' men…but GOLF?? I can't see the Golden Bear gettin' down…nor do I want to.

What is truly a sad part of all of this is that is was expected of him (in many circles, I'm sure). Not because he was boring or exciting, but because he is a minority breaking a barrier…like the same pressure that might be on the current U.S. President??

Lastly he is hiding, which is adding to the hype – I don't blame for hiding. Charles Barkley may question his manhood for not coming clean, but I think he is just waiting for the scars and bruises to heal…and maybe a good dentist. Smart move!

Anyway, at least we all know why his game was slipping now!

Nice clean site – good luck!

Add me if you can?! http://www.twitter.com/BankruptcyVegas

D.

Now, the darker side of all of this where people screw up and cannot escape the spotlight afterward – I suppose that's just 'the cost of doing business' now. This has been a long time coming though – traditional media, news outlets, tabloids, etc. have steadily pursued this 'let's cover every single moment and analyze it ad nauseum' mentality for decades. The difference now is that the people being 'covered' actually have just as much power to present their side of the story (i.e. via social media). The playing field is much more level now IMO. In cases like Tiger's, I think it's pretty straightforward – watch your zipper and you won't have any problems. But seriously, we should all be responsible for our actions and avoid doing things that we're not proud of and would have a hard time standing behind if exposed publicly.

I also believe this is spilling over into the business side as well in terms of personal profiles vs. professional profiles. Although right now, there is this sense of 'watch what you do' and 'don't mix personal with professional' in social media, I believe this too will become much more balanced in the years ahead. I think one of the greatest things about being involved in social media is that you can really connect with people on a personal level by being open about your interests, passions, etc. Why should we put up walls around ourselves just as we're counseling businesses to tear those same walls down? Don't we encourage businesses to be more transparent, and engage in the conversations happening throughout the web? Don't we encourage them to put a face on their profiles and not just a logo? If businesses are becoming more open, I think it stands to reason that the people that they employ, partner with, etc. should also feel comfortable being more open as well. This is perhaps a bit 'blue sky' for right now, but I believe it's what we will see more of (not less) in the future.

Thanks for the inspiring post Mark! It really is a fascinating topic to explore.