A former state president of the Young Liberal Movement has described his view of the future political landscape in Australia, and what impact social media will have on the leaders of tomorrow.

Dan Cregan, who once presided over the South Australian chapter of the Young Liberals says that future leaders will be “made honest and genuine merely by the volume of public data on their past.”

In the piece penned for a Fairfax newspaper, Mr Cregan said unless young leaders and executives are actively censoring themselves now, by the time they take power there will be a digital cornucopia of accumulated information. It may not be of concern for many, but some may be permanently haunted by online missteps and permanent evidence of momentary lapses.

Vicki Daniel, co-director of Change2020 - a leadership and corporate education firm, says: “A key thing we advise our clients, particularly those in leadership roles, is that authenticity is essential. Be real, and be yourself. Employees are very adept at seeing through ‘fake’ behavior, particularly Gen Y employees who grew up in an era where myths about prominent people were busted and reality is king.”

Ms Daniel also said while some may be petrified their private lives have been captured for all to see online, a glimpse of the real person behind the suit can be both welcomed and endearing for employees.

With such a fine line between an executives' digital footprint humanising or condemning them, the industry expert offered simple advice: “Old golden rules always apply; don’t write anything on Twitter that you wouldn’t say face-to-face and don’t post photos on Facebook you wouldn’t want your grandma to see.”