Why Avoiding Danger On Social Media Is Such A Big Deal

We all know the drill: if you give away your secrets on social media, you may have people ransacking your house, stealing from you, or worse. And yet, and yet, people keep on giving away their secrets freely. Nobody has to call us and ask us our deepest darkest secrets since we give them away! So I thought it might be time to review some of the things to say or to avoid on social media.

Be Discreet about Your Vacation Plans

Sharing a bucket list might be different than telling everyone exactly where you’ll be and for how long. For instance, telling people you’ll be out of the house for the month of August? Are you crazy? That’s exactly the kind of information scammers and burglars are looking for. Speaking of Safety, have you read Maslow’s Unbelievably Strange Hierarchy of Social Media Needs? Probably not. But that Maslow knew a thing or two.

Don’t Tell People Your Habits

This is similar to telling people where you’re going on vacation. You can tell your closest friends, but do it in a direct or private message (or people on a friend list on Facebook)–not to your three million Twitter followers. Unless you’re setting up some kind of booby trap at your house, and you want people to come around. But who does that? For more about what not to do, see Experian’s excellent article: 9 Ways to Stay Safe on Social Media.

Avoid Facebook Quizzes

Many of those “harmless” Facebook quizzes ask just the kinds of questions that give people enough information to guess your passwords! Your date of birth, mother’s maiden name, favorite pet’s name, etc. It’s best to avoid them, even if they seem like a lot of fun at the moment. And if you think that people who write those quizzes are going to end up doing time in Facebook jail, you might not be right. Here’s an article in case you end up in Facebook jail: Greatest Ways to Do Time in Facebook Jail. And as my friend Bridget Willard mentioned during a recent #DigiBlogChat, you might think something like sharing your pet’s name is innocuous, but to some people, pets are the most important beings in their life.

Avoid Clicking on Unknown Links

A6 It depends on who sends it, but more often than not I'll run it through VirusTotal first. #DigiBlogChat https://t.co/YpFAJlFS30

— YC Williams (@MistressPrime) April 2, 2019

You may get links through social media, or through email from people you don’t know. But like my pal Yvonne says, if there’s even the slightest doubt, use a tool like VirusTotal (dot com) to check them out.

How Do You Stay Safe?

Leave me a comment. And thank you.