Come on seriously. Do you think you are the only “super-stealth, lover of night-vision goggles” spy in the office? Trust me when I say you aren’t. In fact everyone around is spying on everyone. That is one of the side effects of social networks and social media we all like to pretend doesn’t exist, but it’s happening…and it is certainly happening in the workplace. Your boss—right now probably—is tracking what his/her employees are doing.

Don’t freak out, this has been going on for years. Only the methods have changed. Whereas before bosses used timecards, walk-bys, and more formal surveys to find out information, they are now using status updates, and network log-in time stamps. It’s all right there for them to check and monitor. So what should you be aware of? How are they spying on you? Well here are just a few things…

Photos galore. I’m not talking just Facebook (although you should be sure to have the right privacy filters on your account…unless you WANT them seeing you all tipsy at the beach in your little bikini or man shorts), but I also mean photo sharing sites like Flickr and Shutterfly. Make sure the photos you are posting are set to either private or limited filtering views. They.see.you.

Status updates. I know what you are thinking—“are they really going to monitor all of those?” Well they do. Especially between the hours of 4 and 6…to see what you are saying about your day of work. Are you complaining about wasting the whole day and updating that you want a new job? Are you complaining about coworkers or your boss? Well remember that on some of the networks, you don’t necessarily need to “connected” to your boss for them to see your last update. So be smart people…keep them clean (er).

Time stamps. This one cracks me up, because as a user we aren’t really aware of the fact that all of those tweets, networks posts,  and blog comments are all TIME STAMPED. So if you {accidentally} took a late lunch and spent that time on Twitter, your boss is going to know. Also if you {accidentally} checked your RSS mobile and made a few comments during the company meeting, you boss will know that too! Just be careful guys. You are basically sporting a giant “this is what I’m doing” feed on your back for all to see!

Activity feeds. This one is all about LinkedIn folks. If you are connecting with potential employers, or suddenly request/get a ton of recommendations, your boss might just see the huge red flag you are throwing in their face. Not to mention if you start joining a bunch of groups on LinkedIn. This is probably most ridiculous when you join a job search group…I mean really guys, really? Get.it.together. Again they don’t have to be connected to see all of that. If they are connected to someone you just connected with they will see those notifications in the activity feed.

Bookmark toolbar. I’m saving this one for last because I think it’s such a sneaky way for bosses to know what you have been up to. Most of us bookmark those sites we check all the time (aka networks, profiles, etc.) and although our boss isn’t stealing your computer to check your bookmarked sites, they can surely see the toolbar. Just think about how many times you send them screenshots…what are they seeing? Your facebook profile? Your Twitter stream? Are they seeing job search engines like YourJobStop or Indeed? Just be aware that you don’t need to just worry about what you do on the sites, but be aware of how often you visit them and where you store the shortcuts.

These are just a few ways to start monitoring the monitoring your bosses are doing on you. I’m not telling you to go all crazy with the privacy features and be paranoid, I just want you all to be aware that companies are getting smarter about all of this “social” stuff. They are learning how to use the features to their advantage.

Soooo what are you waiting for? I’ll bet you $10 you need to go change some privacy feature or filter…go on, get moving…