Remember to update your privacy settings so your stupid election tweets don’t go viral

Election night is here, and as long as I’m issuing public service announcements, I thought I’d take a moment to remind you to check the privacy settings on your social profiles. It’s easy to forget that networks like Twitter and Facebook are public forums, and a few minutes updating your settings tonight can save you weeks and months of embarrassment.

Tonight’s going to be an emotional night for all of us, and some of us aren’t going to handle it very well. Before the night is over, a lot of us are going to post some ignorant and deeply offensive things on the web. And tomorrow, the rest of us are going to share those things with our friends, at the expense of the morons who posted them.

Now, I’m not going to tell you not to be one of those morons. If you want to get on the web tonight and say something hateful or ignorant – or, let’s be frank, jaw-droppingly racist – then that’s your right, and I’ve got neither the ability nor the will to stop you. But for God’s sake, lock down your profile before you do, so people like me don’t have to read it, and can’t make fun of it.

A lot of you voted for the first time today, and that’s a major responsibility. Tonight, a lot of you are going to tweet about your vote for the first time, and that comes with a lot its own responsibility. Don’t ruin your life, your reputation or your career just because you’re too damned stupid for your own good.

Here’s a simple test: Is Barack Obama a Muslim? If you said yes, and you don’t want to be on Buzzfeed tomorrow, then go change your profile settings, you stupid idiot.

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