It may seem like history is repeating itself after our recent coverage of Rob Wilson MP’s social media stumble – but it turns out that it’s not just politicians who need to take more care of what they publish online.

In the past week, the UK’s first-ever youth police and crime commissioner Paris Brown resigned, after it emerged that she had posted Twitter comments dating back two years with racist and anti-gay overtones. As well as labelling immigrants “illegals” and gay people “fags”, Brown cast considerable doubt over her own credentials for upholding responsible behaviour. In one tweet, she bragged that she had “Been drinking since half 1 and riding baby walkers up and down the hall at work oh my god I have the best job ever haha!!” While it should be pointed out that this tweet referred to a job Brown held prior to her brief spell as youth commissioner, it’s hardly ideal CV material.

Resigning just six days on from her appointment to the police role, the 17-year-old Sheerness resident released a statement saying: “I accept that I have made comments on social networking sites which have offended many people and I am really, truly sorry for any offence that has been caused … I have fallen into the trap of behaving with bravado on social networking sites. I hope that this stands as a learning experience for many other young people.” Instead of employing Brown to the tune of £15,000 per year, her local police force is now investigating her over the tweets.

While this incident was, at the very least, embarrassing for Brown and Kent Police, it has also raised questions over the organisation’s ability to subject applicants to thorough evaluation before inviting them to join their staff. Kent’s police and crime commissioner, Ann Barnes, has even acknowledged that Miss Brown’s tweets had not been checked before she was given the role.

Other employers increasingly look at applicants’ online profiles on various platforms to assess their suitability for the roles they seek – and while you can change your profile settings to private, or only allow friends to view your comments, it’s still best not to say anything online that you think could come back to haunt you.