FACEBOOK and Twitter users should not say in private what they do not want to be made public.

This is the advice from the former head of social media in President Jacob Zuma's private office.

The advice from masters student Sunil Gopal comes as The American Consumer Report last week revealed that most Facebook users worldwide were sharing too much information and simply ignored privacy settings.

Gopal said the recent Twitter storm over racist tweets by model Jessica Leandra dos Santos was an example of how private thoughts could easily be exposed to the wider public.

"Many people are unaware that other members of the public can view their comments and profile information. They are under the impression that only their friends and followers can see their thoughts, feelings and actions."