Social media websites allow you to connect with other people in real time, and often facilitate conversations and connections where physical barriers would prevent them from happening normally. It's important to realize, however, that anyone can pretend to be anyone on the Internet, and to be careful what information you give out to other people. Some sites are designed to be completely public, like Twitter, so there's not much you need to worry about other than realize everything you post is public. Other sites, like Facebook and Google+, tend to give you a little more control over what information you share and with whom you share it with. Here's a few tips for staying safe on these sites:
- Only accept friend requests from people you know in real life, and don't friend people you don't know personally.
- If a friend's profile looks suspicious or there isn't much to go on, ask the person if it's their account.
- Never give out personal information on your profile or in Messenger/Hangouts.
- Make sure your privacy settings are set up correctly. Check back every once in a while to make sure nothing has changed.
Understanding Privacy Settings
On most social media websites, there is a section of the website dedicated to setting up your account's privacy settings so that only what you want shared gets shared and is only shown to the right people. While it's a good rule of thumb to never post anything you wouldn't want publicized online, sites like Facebook do give you a decent amount of control over your digital life. Here's an excellent video from the Goodwill Community Foundation on setting up your Facebook privacy settings:For more information and a more in-depth look at understanding Facebook's privacy settings, please visit the following links:
No comments:
Post a Comment