Tips for staying safe on social media

SOCIAL media has become an integral part of our lives. It is a great way to stay connected to families and friends. It has also become a way to connect with would-be customers and clients and provides a ready environment for staying up-to-date with information, true or otherwise.

Many social media accounts usually require some personal information, such as name, date of birth, email address, phone number, among others, for operation. Some social media accounts have the special feature of allowing you to have a section dedicated for identifying family members, school mates, work colleagues and other people you have a special relationship with.

By virtue of the services social media provide, such as posting pictures, comments and stories of issues ranging from personal to national, information on a person’s location, interests and projects are no longer private in the sense of the word.

The fact that we connect with our families and friends on social media does not mean we should not be wary about how much personal information we should post, because, whether a person likes it or not, the minute it becomes active on the social media, beyond friends and people of like interests who would view your profile, strangers who are simply looking for an opportunity to commit crime would have access to it.

Scammers love social media because it is the perfect environment for them to set traps and if a person refuses to take the necessary steps to ensure privacy, he may fall victim. There is more good than harm that can be derived from the social media, only when certain tips are followed.

A website, staysafeonline.org, offers tips that can protect a social media user from harm. According to the online security website, the first thing to take into consideration is your privacy and security. Set your accounts to private to prevent people you are not friends with from viewing too much of your information. Use a secure password – passwords that are not easy to decipher. Passwords like 1234, 0000, abcd are commonly used insecure passwords. Also avoid using passwords that can be easily guessed, such as your birth date or nickname. If you need to use a password that you want to easily remember and it has to be your birth date or something obvious, jumble the words, use capital and small letters alternately, or combine the numbers with words for better security. However, note that for some social media sites, whether you use capital or small letters are irrelevant. So, double-check the passwords using all small letters before you set up your account. Passwords should be unique.

Be careful with what you post; remember once posted always posted! What you post online stays online. So think twice before posting pictures you would not want your parents, guardians, friends, boss, partner or even enemies, to see. Some pictures or comments are capable of ruining your future so be mindful of what you post. Addresses, phone numbers, and locations are gold mines for scammers and can be used for identity theft. Putting up current locations can give thieves an idea of when you are in and out of town, putting your home and belongings at risk.

Posts about children activities, such as school, shopping, and recreational activities, should be kept to a minimum. Even vacation plans for children should be posted with caution. Cases of children being kidnapped are on the rise and one cannot stay safe enough. Criminal domestic help agents may also sometimes use this information to their advantage. All it takes is getting you to agree to employ a member of their syndicate and an opportune moment.

Getting rid of old information and profiles is another clue to staying safe online. Remove old information like workplace and school from your profile, because scammers can get clues about you from old information too. Deactivate accounts you no longer use; they may also contain useful information. Scammers, who also operate via phone calls, claiming to know personal information about you, may have got your information from old or new profile posts.

Be honest when you are uncomfortable. It is not a bad thing for our friends to post our pictures to appreciate friendship, which does not mean you shouldn’t speak up when something you do not like is posted about you. Let your friends know what they posted about you is wrong. If you can’t help the situation, there are privacy settings you can take advantage of on social media accounts to reject or accept to be tagged in a friend’s post.

Be wary of who you add as friend, even with the temptation to increase your friend count .Do not add strangers, as they could be scammers attempting to gather information to use against you. Scammers can create a dummy profile of someone you are already friends. If you get such a request, always confirm from the friend.

Beware of clickbait. Clickbait is a term used to describe website content with the main purpose of attracting attention and encouraging visitors to click on their webpage. Posts like ‘Don’t be’ or ‘containing shocking videos footage’ are classic examples of clickbait on social media. These posts will require you to enter your personal information which fraudsters can scam you with. Always remember if it is too good to be true, then it really is too good to be true. Avoid posts promising free goods in exchange for your shipping information.

According to staysafeonline.org protect yourself with these tips ‘Stop,’ ‘Think’ and ‘Connect.’

Most importantly, always keep your log-in details private.