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Social Networks Sharing
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10 Things You Should Not Share on Social Networks
BY CHARLES W. BRYANT
Unless you've been
living under a rock in 2009, you know that social networking Web sites are the
latest and greatest way to interact with other users on the Internet.
Thirty-five
percent of adults on the Internet now have a profile on at least one social networking
site, and 51 percent have more than one. Three-quarters of users between the
ages of 18 and 24 have an online profile [source: USA Today].
The
Pew Research Center found that 89 percent of these people use the sites to keep
up with friends, 57 percent to make plans with friends and 49 percent to make
new friends.
Facebook,
MySpace, LinkedIn, Friendster, Urban Chat and Black Planet are just a few of
more than 100 Web sites connecting folks around the world who are eager to
share their thoughts and feelings.
But
just like in real life, there's such a thing as sharing too much information
(TMI).
It's
easy to get caught up in the social aspects of sites like Facebook, but what
you choose to share is there for all to see if you don't limit who can view
your information.
The
same study by Pew Research found that 40 percent of users have open access to
their profiles, allowing anyone to view their information.
The
other 60 percent restrict access to friends, family and colleagues.
Sharing
personal information with strangers can be dangerous business, and there are
some things you should definitely put on your "do not share" list.
We'll
go over 10 of those items in this article.
10
Personal Conversations
On Facebook, users can send personal messages or post notes,
images or videos to another user's wall.
The wall is there for all to see, while messages are between
the sender and the receiver, just like an e-mail.
Personal and private matters should never be shared on your
wall. You wouldn't go around with a bullhorn announcing a private issue to the
world, and the same thing goes on the Internet.
This falls under the nebulous world of social networking
etiquette. There is no official handbook for this sort of thing, but use your
best judgment.
If it's not something you'd feel comfortable sharing in
person with extended family, acquaintances, work colleagues or strangers, then
you shouldn't share it on your Facebook wall.
9 Social Plans
Sharing
your social plans for everybody to see isn't a good idea. Unless you're
planning a big party and inviting all the users you're connected to, it will
only make your other friends feel left out.
There
are also some security issues at stake here. Imagine a scenario where a jealous
ex-boyfriend knows that you're meeting a new date out that night.
What's
to keep the ex from showing up and causing a scene or even potentially getting
upset or violent? Nothing, that's what.
If
you're planning a party or an outing with a group of friends, send a personal
"e-vite" for their eyes only and nobody is the wiser.
If
you're trying to cast a wide net by throwing out an idea for a social outing,
just remember that anyone who has access to your profile sees it.
8 Linking
Sites
With 51 percent of social network users taking advantage of
more than one site, there's bound to be some crossover from one to the other,
especially if you have the sites linked.
You may post something you find innocuous on Facebook, but
then it's linked to your LinkedIn work profile and you've put your job at risk.
If you link your various profiles together, be aware that
what you post in one world is available to the others.
In 2009, a case of an employee caught lying on Facebook hit
the news.
The employee asked off for a weekend shift because he was ill
and then posted pictures on his Facebook profile of himself at a party that
same weekend.
The news got back to his employer easily enough and he was
fired.
So if you choose to link your profiles, it's no longer a
"personal life" and "work life" scenario.
7 Company Information
You may be dying to tell the world about your new work
promotion, but if it's news that could be advantageous to one of your company's
competitors, then it's not something you should share.
News of a planned expansion or a big project role and
anything else about your workplace should be kept private.
Sophos, a security software company, found that 63 percent of
companies were afraid of what their employees were choosing to share on social
networking sites [source: ReadWriteWeb].
If you want to message it out, be selective and send private
e-mails.
Many companies are so serious about not being included in
social networking sites that they forbid employees from using sites like
Facebook at work.
Some IT departments even filter the URLs and block access to
these sites altogether so employees aren't tempted to log on.
6 Photos of Your Kids
Social networking sites are a common place for people to
share pictures of their families, but if you're one of the 40 percent of users
who don't restrict access to your profile, then those pictures are there for
everyone to see.
It's a sad fact, but there are a lot of predators who use the
Internet to stalk their prey.
If you post pictures of your family and couple that with
information like, "my husband is out of town this weekend" or
"little Johnny is old enough to stay at home by himself now," then
your children's safety could be at risk.
Nobody ever thinks it will happen to them until it does, so
safety first is a good default mode when using social networking sites.
Just like with other private matters, send family photos only
to a select group of trusted friends and colleagues who you know won't share
them.
5 Your Address and Phone Number
File this one under security risk.
If you share your address and phone number on a social
networking site, you open yourself up to threats of identity theft and other
personal dangers like burglaries.
If you post that you're going on vacation and you have your
address posted, then everyone knows you have an empty house.
Identity thieves could pay a visit to your mailbox and open
up a credit card in your name. Burglars could rid your home of anything of
value.
Even just posting your phone number gives people with
Internet savvy easy access to your address.
Reverse lookup services can supply anyone with your home
address if you can provide the phone number.
4 Personal Finance Information
You
would think that nobody would share things like where they do their banking or
what their stock portfolio looks like, but it happens.
Especially
with all the headlines of banks going bankrupt and stock prices plummeting
during the 2008/2009 recession, it's easy for an innocent Facebook comment to
reveal too much about your personal finances.
Consider
this scenario: You're posting to a long thread on a friend's wall about the
bank crisis.
You
say something along the lines of, "We don't need to worry because we bank
with a teacher's credit union," or even, "We put all our money into
blue chip stocks and plan to ride it out."
Again,
if you're one the 40 percent who allow open access to your profile, then
suddenly identity thieves know where you bank and where you have the bulk of
your investments.
It's
easy to forget that what may seem like a harmless comment on a Facebook wall could
reveal a great deal about your personal finances. It's best to avoid that kind
of talk altogether.
3
Your Password
This
one really seems like a no-brainer, but if it didn't happen, then Facebook
probably wouldn't feel the need to list it in the No. 1 slot on its list of
things you shouldn't share.
Even
sharing the password with a friend so he or she can log on and check
something for you can be a risk.
This
is especially true with couples who feel like there's enough trust to share
these kinds of things. Here's another scenario for you: You give your boyfriend
your Facebook password because he wants to help you upload some vacation
photos.
A
couple of months later, the relationship sours, he turns into a not-so-nice guy
and then there's a person out there who doesn't like you and has your login
information.
Time
to cancel your account and get a new one. If you'd have kept that information
private to begin with, you could simply move on with your life.
Now
you have a compromised profile, and if you link to other sites or profiles, all
that information is at risk as well.
Keep
your password to yourself, no matter what, and you never have to worry about
it.
2 Password Hints
Most Web sites that contain secure personal information
require a password also have at least one password hint in case you forget.
It typically goes like this: You sign up for something like
online banking and you get a login and password and then choose a security
question for when you forget your password.
What's the name of your first pet? What's your mother's
maiden name? What was your high school mascot? What's the name of the first
street you lived on?
Including any of these details on a Facebook wall or status
update may not seem like a big deal, but it could provide an identity thief
with the last piece of the puzzle needed to hack into your bank account.
Think before you post anything that could compromise this
information.
1 Anything You Don't Want Shared
You
can select all the privacy settings you want on social networking sites, but
the fact is, if you post it, it has the potential to be seen by someone you
don't want seeing it.
You
know all those fun Facebook applications, quizzes and polls you can't help but
fill out?
A
study performed by the University of Virginia found that of the top 150
applications on Facebook, 90 percent were given access to information they
didn't need in order for the app to function.
So
when you sign up to find out what sitcom star you most identify with, the
makers of that poll now have access to your personal information.
It's
anybody's guess where it goes from there. Social networking is all about
sharing, so something you think is in confidence can easily be shared and then
shared again, and before you know it, someone you don't even know has access to
something private.
"When
in doubt, leave it out" is a good motto to follow. And always remember
that anything you share has the potential to be leaked in some way.
About Charles W. Bryant
Charles W.(Chuck) Bryant co-hosts the
'Stuff You
Should Know' podcast along
with his trusty sidekick, Josh Clark. He was born in Atlanta in the early 1970s
under the sign of Pisces. Twenty-four years later, he earned an English degree
at the University of Georgia. He spent the next decade traveling, pursuing
creative endeavors and getting street smart. He and his wife-to-be moved back
to Atlanta in 2004, with four pets in tow. He hooked up with HowStuffWorks.comshortly after co-host Josh was hired, and the pair bonded
immediately over their love of Hunter S. Thompson, the fight-or-flight response
and dive bars. In his off-time, Chuck enjoys hanging out with his wife, cooking
and playing in his old-man band. He loves his neti pot and hates cold bathroom
floors. You can find Chuck on Twitter at @SYSKPodcast and on Facebook at the official Stuff You
Should Know page.
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