The Turley Law Firm has a website that lists 10 Facebook safety tips which says how someone of any age can protect themselves. The first tip is common sense because if you want to protect 
the amount of information that you put on Facebook and possibly have visible to the world via internet then you’re not going to include your address, phone numbers, and date of birth (at least not the year). With those 3 bits of information someone find out so much about you.
The second wants people to be careful about putting pictures of kids because some companies try to get a hold of those pictures and use them for promotional purposes. The third wants people to understand that what they put on their profile is viewed by more than family and friends because not everything is private. The fourth is encouraging that you not accept all friend requests. I know that I’ve had people friend me and I had no clue who they were and that even though it said they went to the same high school I did and it was a different year, I had never heard of them and I knew a lot of people that graduated before I did.
The fifth and sixth want people to be cautious about what you are posting via status or pictures because Facebook is professional as well as being personal and that can cause issues for those who aren’t aware that employers will take into account anything they find on Facebook that might not be good prior to making a decision about hiring you. The seventh mentions not leaving your Facebook open because so many people will go and take advantage of it. The eighth is about how anti-virus software is great because some viruses can be spread through email addresses as well as Facebook pages. The ninth and tenth are about the importance of spelling and grammar as well as reminding everyone to be cautious about what they post about themselves or other people.
When I think about these tips I realize how much they can help protect someone on Facebook who doesn’t realize the consequences of what they post online. It is important to protect ourselves and others through this constantly advancing technology.
Most of us involved in the social networks never even think twice about something we post online. This is due to the fact that we don't think anyone but the people we have allowed access to view our "profile" will ever see it. It is scary to think that even when we have certain privacy controls on our computer or our social networks, people we want to withhold personal information from can still gain access. We need to take more time and think about what we are actually saying and posting online when dealing with social networks especially.
ReplyDeleteLots of my friends fall subject to the trap of uploading pictures on Facebook that they take. I mean when you upload over 10 pics a day, every day, people who look at your profile can get a routine down on what you like to do and possible stalk you as well as come to your house while your not there because you let that be know to everyone.
ReplyDeleteI also know a few that share their Facebook accounts with each other and post stuff about one another. This can be bad if they need to get a job and a potential boss can look at their account and see all these terrible post that were made by a friend in a joking matter. It makes it all different when it is taken out of context.
This tips are very useful because it is very important to protect you identity and those who are close to you. I have witness people who post inappropriate pictures of others and think its funny but what they don't realize is that some families or employers might think this is insulting and there might be consequences for these people who didn't ask for those pictures to get posted in the first place. We should all think before we post something on Facebook, if we don't care to keep our identities clean we should at least leave others alone!
ReplyDeleteThe second tip which refers to posting pictures of your kids online is the one that hits closest to home for me. My cousin and his wife are living in the Middle East right now (Qatar), and they post so many (adorable) pictures of their three blond haired blue eyed American kids. I think this is very dangerous, especially due to their location. Unfortunately, these are not the only people I know who do this. People need to think twice before they post so much information about their little children.
ReplyDeletePeople not being aware of what they are posting is just outrageous. I have seen some of the most in appropriate pictures on facebook. People don't understand that companies go and will look at an applicants profile on facebook as a reference to the type of character they are. Me personally know that pictures that may hold content in them that may exclude me from certain opportunities just because of what was in the picture. The example I will give is, one of my friends in the Corps of Cadets had pictures of himself on facebook drinking alcohol. The problem was that he was only 18 and had a military scholarship. When these pictures were seen, my friend had lost his scholarship and then had to drop from the university because he didn't have enough money to attend without the scholarship. Plain and simple think before you post pictures of yourself on facebook.
ReplyDeleteThe average person does not think before they post something online because they assume only people they approve will see it. In actuality what you post online is not that secure and if someone wants to get access to they will find a way. Most college students don't think how posting inappropriate pictures or comments can affect their life after college as they try to find a job as more and more employers are looking at the profiles of potential jobs candidates.
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