The saying “tweet in haste, repent at leisure” is perhaps not catchy enough to go down in the lexicon of mottos that pepper conversation in modern life, but the sentiment behind the phrase is becoming more and more familiar.

Social media dominates the lives of a significant percentage of the population.

Facebook and twitter are perhaps the best known. For many, these sites are seen as tools to keep up with friends, exchange photos and opinions and to virtually spend time in each other’s company.

It’s easy to be lulled into a false sense of security that users think that their thoughts are going to be shared between close friends or that they will be easily forgotten.

Twitter is frequently seen as the site where micro-bloggers have broken world news. The 140 character messages allow for a range of pieces of information to be immediately relayed to followers. Well-known stars command millions of followers.

This week, a potential candidate in the forthcoming Council elections has stepped down after posts made on his facebook page were revealed.

Chris Lennox from Kesh has apologised. His social media comments were “borne out of moments of idiocy,” he said. These were “were lazy attempts at close-to-the-bone humour and were never intended for an audience beyond close friends whom I knew would not take them seriously,” he added.

His aspiration is that others may learn from his experience. “If I can serve as a useful ‘what not to do’ example to others, then that would be a silver lining to a sorry incident,” he said.

It’s not just would-be politicians who have fallen foul of their posts on social media sites.

Increasingly, young people are being advised that their messages on facebook, posted as teenagers, could be examined by a prospective employer years later.

And what one 15 year old says to another on a website may seem like a laugh at the time, but could appear altogether a different prospect when their future career options are riding on the reactions to them of a university admissions officer or a managing director.

The off-the-cuff, spur of the moment remark may beam back to the future in a manner that can cause hopes and aspirations to crumble.

If there is one lesson to learned, it is this. Posts on social media are never private and their ramifications can last a very long time.