Idiots Guide To Safe Social Networking
Social networking is responsible for having created the busiest website on the Internet. Sites like Facebook and YouTube are attracting people in the millions, and this trend is not set to stop shortly. Despite the popularity of these networks, there are some serious aspects to using them. If you think that’s a matter of common sense, think again, because I can’t recount the amount of times I have seen people offering strangers private information that is supposed to be kept that way.
It seems that social media marketing has left many users with their pants down and their bums exposed. If you want to avoid becoming the next victim of identity theft you should be very careful about the things you share with strangers on the Net. One can never be too careful.
Privacy laws are here for a reason
While you might not feel like reading Facebook’s privacy laws for entertainment purposes, you should at least learn the basics. With whom exactly are you sharing your profile? Do you know who access your latest profile messages, and whether or not strangers can befriend you? You should. It could save you a lot of hassles down the line.
Your personal details should be kept private
What is it with people sharing their birthday online? Come on! Identity theft is rife. If you subscribe to the belief that it is cool to tell the world your full name and birthday, then better get ready to become the next victim. I’m serious, thieves only need a few of your personal details to commit theft of your identity.
In the age of fake identities and online crime it isn’t hard for a savvy criminal to target a vulnerable person. If you share your personal details with the world you can realistically expect to be conned at some stage.
Be wary of strangers
Please don’t share your whole life story with your new Twitter buddies. Unless you personally know and trust a person it is highly possible he is not what he appears to be. Even people you deem “for real” might be someone made up for the sake of conning others, or in some instances to preserve their own online privacy. Keep that in mind at all times when dealing with others.
Think before you post
That drunken photo of you and your mates at the office Xmas bash might not be suited for publication on Facebook. Your boss is lurking, and stunts like these have seen people get sacked and ridiculed. The same goes for videos, text and anything else you publish online.
Assume lurking predators
It sucks having to think that way, but having said this, you better be safe than sorry. Because of the ease in which we can publish and share content with others online the Internet has become a frenzied pool for human sharks; these people stop at nothing to make your life a living hell, and the more they know about you, the easier it is for them to harass.
Your social networking profile isn’t safe; because of weak passwords, third-party software plugins and a lack of awareness many profiles can easily get accessed by hackers. I should know because I recently got very close to losing my Facebook account to a hacker. I had a weak-(ish) password. Thankfully I was able to deter the attack before it became a serious issue.
Needless to say, I now use strong passwords to avoid this sort of problem.
Don’t be a social media sloth
You know, the kind who uses the same crappy and weak password for all his logins. Instead use unique passwords and make them hard to guess. A strong password should be made up of a combination of digits, letters and symbols and not words.
I hope this short guide to social media security has helped you see the bigger (more private picture).
Monika
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About The Blog Author
Alex Sysoef is an IT Consultant, Internet Marketer and ProBlogger who shares his passion and knowledge of WordPress, SEO, Social Media and traffic strategies on his blog WordPress Howto Spotter. Connect on Twitter or Facebook
14 Responses to “Idiots Guide To Safe Social Networking”
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“Privacy laws are here for a reason” – could not agree more, and who on earth would not set privacy laws to private, rather than public. You are asking for something bad to happen!
Furthermore, thinking before you post it also totally crucial, I agree, as prospective future employers often look at peoples social networking profiles.
Good tips, and thanks
.-= Christopher Roberts´s last blog ..Nuclear Fusion, the Ultimate Power? =-.
Glad you enjoyed this post Christopher.
I agree your views specially from twitter tips. Thousand or million is following each other on twitter then we should care about privacy.
.-= Rakesh Solanki´s last blog ..Check Your PassWord Strength With Password Checker =-.
The word “privacy” has totally lost meaning and purpose. I don’t think there’s such thing as privacy in the online world. I mean let’s face it, you can find almost anything about anyone nowadays: what they look like, where they live, what their hobbies are… man, it’s frightening.
.-= Marc´s last blog ..Time for some free stuff =-.
Hi Monika
Strange how we trust people on the internet… not sure what that’s all about. Is it because we can’t actually see a face or do we think we are talking to a machine?
Thanks for an easy to follow primer on Safe Social Networking.
When I do jump into the Social Networking pool, I’ll feel a little more secure.
.-= Keith Davis´s last blog ..Laugh and the world… =-.
No worries Keith, it is a bit scary when you think how easily we trust people. I learned my lesson when a “friend” whom I believed to be the person he claimed to e turned out to be a woman. This person simply made up a total new persona and managed to foll thousands of (his) readers. Talking about being lied to and misled.
But I guess that’s to be expected online as much as it is offline.
The weak passwords warning is on target. I’ve been super lazy with passwords thinking my sites are so small, who would even think? Well as a result, had one site completely hacked a few years ago and a near miss this year.
Nice list of stuff newbie bloggers must pay attention on. I think now is very hard to keep something under the desk, and private, especially on internet where are many worms, keyloggers, spyware etc and most of people don’t know how to fight that threat.
The age of innocence is over. Someone posted a fake death story about Justin Bieber this morning. When I looked at the headline, I wondered how that could be true. At least my instincts were correct this time, but it’s not always so easy to see who’s literally pulling our leg.
Cheryl from thatgirlisfunny recently posted..Why BP Oil Spill Should Scare You More Than Osama Bin Laden Does
So true Cheryl, it’s kind of sad really, but then the Internet is just another vehicle for the thieves of this world to rob other people of their identity, dignity, innocence, etc.
I guess for every advancement there will always be a corresponding setback. Prior to the popularity of social networking sites or social media, there were already several unfavorable events that took place utilizing the internet. Yes, as time goes the world becomes more and more advanced, but so are the bad guys. The best way for us to deal with this is to be more cautious to avoid being their prey.
I guess the idea is not to share too much personal information on the web. Yes it is fun to be updated on stuff and what not especially if it has something to do with friends, the same way that it is fun as well giving updates about you, your whereabouts, what are you doing and etc. But these info could anytime be used to your detriment. We must always be careful. Prevention is still the best.
Ross recently posted..The Best Websites To Buy
I believe at this point in time, anything is possible. If men could walk the surface of the moon, crawling the internet and hacking wouldn’t be that hard. Whether we like it or not, there are bad guys out there. We must be vigilant. I read this article I couldn’t remember where about announcing via twitter and facebook a vacation plan with all the details including the number of hours left before taking the vacation. It’s a perfect way to let these bad souls know when to make a move and ransack your house. Also, for passwords, make it a habit to make alphanumeric passwords.