Social media sites such as Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube have become an essential part of our lives. While it is great to stay connected with others via social media sites, you should also be careful how much personal information you share online. Here are a couple of tips you can use to stay safe online.
Omar Todd
- Privacy and security settings are available for a reason, use them on social media sites to control who sees what you post.
- When you post something online, it stays online. Protect your reputation on social media sites by thinking twice before posting something. Many employers perform background checks on social media sites before hiring employees; you don’t want your future employer to see inappropriate content you have posted online. Maintain a good online reputation and it can help in future jobs.
- Personal information is meant to be personal and not posted for all to see on social media sites. Posting personal information online makes it easier for hackers to gain access to your account and steal your identity, and commit other crimes.
- Many people add friends on social media sites they don’t know. While it could be fun to have new friends online, you need to be careful of the friends you add. You might have several friends online, but you can use tools to manage the information you share online. You can create a public persona, or open a “fan” page that allows just about anyone to follow your posts on that page, but use your personal profile to stay connected with real friends.
Omar Todd is experienced in online security solutions and serves on the council at the ICTTF (International Cyber Threat Task Force)
Omar Todd 