We've been waiting for proof that chronic Facebook and Twitter updates need to stop, and now we have it: TMI on Facebook and Twitter is causing crime! The technologies have been implicated in recent mugging, robbery and gang cases. No joke.

Twitter Flash Mobs Turn Ugly
Two weekends ago in Philadelphia, thousands of teens helped rob a convenience store, heckle pedestrians and carjack and beat up a random couple. Police there suspect the thugs arranged the attack through MySpace and Twitter, calling the online conspiring "a new dynamic that's growing, with large groups of juveniles using the social networks to get out the word."

Usually when you think of a flash mob, you think Improv Everywhere or mass huggings, not NBA Championship-style riots. Read more ways Twitter is helping criminals after the jump.

An Arizona man recently posted on Twitter that he was going on vacation. A relative later discovered the man's house had been burglarized. Gang leaders are getting savvy to the trend, too; they're profiling recruits by looking for kids who download music and talk on message boards glorifying street gangs.

Other countries are also seeing jumps in juvenile crime organized through sites like Facebook and YouTube. Research out of Australia shows violent offenses -- homicide, assault, rape -- committed by offenders aged between 10 and 19 rose from 17,944 in 1996-97 to 23,382 in 2005-06.

Taking a Tweet Out of Crime
Police are turning the tables on criminals by using the same social sites to solve crimes. Departments from Colorado to Canada are getting smart and searching Facebook, MySpace and the like for clues to crimes -- people really are stupid enough to update their status message with their latest felony.

The tactic operates on a basic assumption of human nature and social networking -- that people like to brag about what they do and that criminals in particular can be pretty dense.

One genius bank robber from Virginia even posted on MySpace that he was "on tha run for robbin a bank Love all of yall," which led to his successful capture. Police have also solved crimes by finding MySpace pictures of perps toting guns or updating their statuses to detail their misdeeds. That's self-promotion at its finest.

So though you're just dyyyying to post that you're finally on that Cabo trip you've been counting down to for eight months, you might want to resist the urge, lest you want to come back to an empty house. Even if your profile's set to private, there's still ways for crooks to get your info.

Tell us: What do and don't you let others know about you online? Have you or anyone you know ever become the target of a crime because of something on a profile?