What NOT to do on Facebook!
Social media giant Facebook lets you do many things. You can connect with friends, share your information and location, and even know where they are and what they're doing! Sharing information like home address, contact number, where you went to school, where you work, etc may look harmless. But is sharing such pieces of information on Facebook really safe?
Reconsider sharing information of Facebook
While Facebook does claim that it protects the privacy of users with utmost priority, you might want to think again. People post a lot of information on Facebook and then tag in inordinate number of friends. An anonymous hacker recently said they can easily use this information, including maiden name, first pet, favorite album, etc, which most people use for passwords.
Simple, basic information you might not want to share
Birthday: Birthday is part of a puzzle, including name and address, using which anyone can easily access your bank account and other things. Phone number: Putting up the number linked to your finances, emails etc means giving up privacy; you're extending an open invitation to stalkers and hackers. Location: Tagging location at home/office gives away the address, again an important piece of information.
Too many virtual acquaintances?
Facebook lets you add friends until you reach 5,000, which is a lot! However, Oxford Psychology Professor Robin Dunbar says humans can only maintain 150 stable relationships. After studying 3,375 users, he found that of their Facebook friends, only 4.1 were dependable and 13.6 showed sympathy during emotional crises. He says getting rid of "the deadwood" can make social media interaction healthier.
Sharing details and photographs of children
Sharing details of children or young family members online, including where they go to school or for recreational activities, is unsafe. Also, reconsider posting their photographs online. These details may give sexual offenders an opportunity to easily locate them. While their consent may not matter today, you need to think about what they would want to see about themselves in a few years.
Boarding pass pictures and details of your holiday
Bragging about your holiday online is cool! But posting pictures of your boarding pass with a unique barcode is silly. The barcode can be used to retrieve your information with the flight company. Also, did you know that travelers burgled on their holiday cannot claim insurance in case they have previously posted about their plans on social media accounts?
Moaning about work online
Online interactions are supposed to be relaxed. Yes! But do you really want to share dodgy status updates, including those moaning about your work? Because, employers can easily see all your updates (unless you prefer to exclude them), but is it worth the hassle?
