precautions while using facebook

The anonymity provided by the virtual world and fear of being stalked often prompts people to impersonate. A considerable number of Facebook profiles are fakes and people often withhold correct information about themselves or provide wrong ones. Do not reveal your real name while chatting; instead use a pseudo/nickname as your username. Avoid provocative nicknames as it tends to attract wrong attention.

Do not share your pics in chat rooms as they can be misused. Identity theft is a grave issue and can have dangerous repercussions. Always be sceptical and wary. If someone asks to be friends on a social networking site and the profile appears to match a work mate, check personally with that person before accepting him as he could be an imposter. Also be sceptical of any offers or prizes you might have been told you won, they might actually be phishing attacks.

Do not leave public chat rooms and encourage private conversations unless you are very sure about the identity of the person you are chatting with. Chatting in public ensures someone or the other would alert you in case you are being harassed. Private chats can often be used by online bullies to harass you.

Check your social media pages regularly. If there are any postings showing inappropriate behaviour, such as drunkenness, remove them immediately. If what you see concerns you, then investigate it. Talk to your customers on a regular basis about how your premises are perceived on social media sites.

It is extremely difficult to verify a users identity on the net, it is best to connect with people known to you. You can grow your circle gradually by connecting to friends friends, colleagues etc. Do not add unknown people to your contacts, they could be stalkers.

Most of the advanced applications that you can add to your online profile are developed by a third party. Not all of them have air tight security and can damage your computer through trojans, worms and viruses. Adding lesser know applications may be a risk.

Phishers and identity thieves might create fake profiles in order to get information from you. Only upload necessary and relevant information and do not make available sensitive data like intimate photographs, bank account numbers and credit card details.

Hackers can break into accounts and send messages that look like they are from your friends, but arent. Use caution while clicking links that you receive in messages. They could hold a virus in them or they could lead you to a phishing site.

Address of your networking site directly into your browser or use your personal bookmarks. Clicking a link to your site through an e mail or another website may lead you to enter your account name and password into a fake site set up to steal your personal information. Unscrupulous individuals use such sites to steal identities, stalk, spread viruses, form hate communities and hatch crime plans. You need to minimise your exposure to risks by taking reasonable precautions. Remember to practice safe social networking and you can fearlessly tap into the huge possibilities of a networked world.

To start out with, the precautions to take when practicing online social networking is to keep your personal information personal. This means that any information that will identify you as a real persona and not just a name on the computer. This is your personal information and should not be posted on social networking sites. The information like your full name, your physical address and the routines you have made in you life should be kept away from online social networking.