Social Media Privacy

The subject of privacy on social media is a huge topic. If you think about the term social media, it references the fact that what you do is social, meaning that it will be shared socially. I believe that Facebook, Twitter and all the other social media sites are making tons of money sharing the information regarding what we do, where we visit on the internet, what products and companies we like and talk about, and about a thousand other types of information with third party companies so that they can market goods and services that we will spend our money on. I also believe that there are criminals also using this social media information to target groups of people in order to scam them out of money or goods. These types of individuals having been doing these types of activities for years. Before the internet was popular, criminals would search the obituaries to look for funeral notices so that they know when the right time to rob the homes of the deceased and their families. Criminals would watch houses (or case them if you will) to see when mail would pile up or when lights would never turn on to find the homes they thought would be good targets to rob. Social media just makes the job of these individuals easier to do. Think about this, would you stand in the middle of a crowded city street and scream out that you are going to be going on a trip for a week? Identifying your name and yelling about how you are going to enjoy your trip away from your home. By posting you are taking a vacation away from home, you are basically doing the same thing. Adjusting your privacy settings on Facebook and Twitter are a good start in protecting yourself, but common sense is also a great way to protect yourself. The bottom line regarding privacy is this, if you don't want it out on the internet, do not post it. If you post it, no matter what your privacy settings are, if someone really wants to get that information, they will get it. Social media is a great way to communicate, to flirt, to play games, to view news, to get support when you need it, but it is also not a private place by any means. For the most part, we do not care who knows we like Tide soap or enjoy the band Third Eye Blind or that we scored a new high score in Slingo. We all just need to apply common sense when it comes to what we post.