Social Media Do's and Don'ts For Online Safety

When it comes to sharing on Social Media there are certain things that can put your personal safety at risk.  In a nutshell, there are things you should and shouldn’t share online.   Sharing online can put yourself as well as others at risk.  I will explain. I’ve spent my career being a part of, and now running an IT company.  You could say that I am well-versed in how cyber criminals act online and I am also well aware of the types of individuals whose sole job is to seek out people to take advantage of.

Up to now, I’ve followed best practices when it comes to “sharing” on Social Media. To be fair, I’m not much of a social media person to begin with.  My digital footprint was perfect, my online world was a safe space, at least it was until someone very dear to me did the unthinkable! I recently took my family to vacation in Alaska.  It was amazing!  We took tons of photos to remember all of the places we visited... and then my sister decided to share a bunch of the photos on Facebook, tagging me in all of the photos.  It gets worse!   Then she posted something along the lines of, “The Bennett family just getting started on our 2 week Alaskan vacation!”

Allow me to paint this picture for you! My sister announced to hundreds of people that we are in Alaska for the next 2 weeks! If we're in Alaska then this would mean that our homes are empty for the next 2 weeks.  Remember folks if you were to break down your Facebook friends I’d say that realistically more than half of those people aren’t more than mere acquaintances (pretty much strangers). To re-cap, we’ve now let everyone know that our homes are empty and for the taking for the next few weeks!  I would never have posted or tagged people in photos – but that’s just me.   Don’t get me wrong, I’m not anti-social and I’m not saying you can’t post cool messages or photos online.   I’m saying that it would be wise to put some thought into your actions and post with caution.

Best Practices for Sharing on Social Media

If you want to be safe, here’s what you do! Save, label and manage your photos on your smartphones and computers.  When you return from your vacation and you’re back in the comfort of your home, then you can go nuts and post all the photos you want!  Here are some additional resources for great tips on how to stay safe online and with social media.  Click here to find out how you can alleviate online risks, Social Media Security: 10 Ways to Protect Yourself Online!

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It’s important to remember that businesses aren’t the only ones targeted by cyber criminals and hackers.  Unfortunately people are a much easier target when it comes to cyber crime!  Just to name a few, birthdays, banking information and passwords are easy for professional hackers to find and crack in order to steal from you.  Practice online safety by clicking here to subscribe to our Safety Tips and Newsletter!

Stay Safe Folks!  If you need help we’re literally a CLICK or a CALL away, 954-920-9604