The Internet is a great place to do everything from networking with friends or business associates to finding new employees--or if you are an employee, finding a job.

But there’s one little problem with the Internet. Almost every interaction you or your employees or partners engage in on the Internet leaves a little bit of information about you--information, that by itself, or when combined with other bits of information you’ve dropped--can paint a picture of you or your business. And that picture may leave an impression you don’t want people to have.

Now, I’m not talking about wild party scenes (or worse.) Seemingly innocuous website postings, forum postings, and job advertisements can, when put together, lead readers to form unfavorable impressions. One company, for instance, was trying to portray itself as an established merger and acquisition firm, but gave quite a different impression because it posted a job listing for an acquisition analyst. The ad listed the salary for the job at $12.50 an hour.

While you can’t (and shouldn’t) avoid the Web, you do need to be very careful about everything you “say” online. Remember, even when you think your posts or comments will only be seen locally or by a small group of people, there’s no guarantee they won’t be found by people searching for information about you or your company. And, those comments you make to your friends on social networks, in email lists, on forums and on blogs are potentially viewable by anyone anyplace in the world.

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