What's the rule for personal social media and the professional world?

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Attica School Superintendent Derek Marshall told News 18 Monday he's investigating after it was revealed an elementary school principal had made potentially inappropriate comments on his Twitter account.

So what's the rule when it comes to personal social media and the professional world? Where does appropriate behavior meet First Amendment rights?

Purdue communications professor Glenn Sparks advises people to think twice before sending out an emotional tweet, because you never know who may read it.

Every social media site has privacy settings.

But Purdue grad student Elizabeth Carroll has never trusted them being enough. That's why she took action when Facebook first became popular.

"I still felt that it was just too much information to put out there so I got it with a fake first and last name that only my friends knew," Carroll explained.

Carroll only has 80 of her closest friends on her account. She said her career comes first.

"I've been a teacher in the past and that's another huge concern because you can't control what other people post on your page and having students that might be able to look through and find what other people don't have locked down on Facebook," said Carroll.

The Twitter account of Attica Elementary School Principal Dusty Goodwin was public and viewable by anyone with an Internet connection through Tuesday. Tweets included calling someone gay. Another stated he failed to OD his wife, calling her a lightweight. The account was brought to the Attica School Board's attention by concerned parents Monday night.

Sparks said all it takes is a retweet or share and suddenly, you become a mass communicator.

"When you take to social media and you send out a message, that message can go to large, scattered audiences instantaneously, people who you do not even know," Sparks explained.

Sparks said with social media, the line between public and private can become very thin. He said the best thing to do: think about the consequences.

"If you find yourself writing a message and you wouldn't be comfortable with some particular person reading that or seeing that, you might want to draw back and think again." Sparks said.

Sparks said try and leave your emotions off of the sites. He said you may regret a post once you've calmed down after you were angry or upset.

As for Carroll, she will continue to work her way through graduate school with her fake name She said the decision has been a success.

"I've convinced several other people to switch to fake names," laughed Carroll.

Marshall has not responded to our request for comment related to Principal Goodwin's Twitter account.