precautions while using social networking sites

Precautions while using Social Networking Sites

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21. Do not check in to different locations
Do not check in to different locations. Many social media sites offer incentives for visiting certain places and posting your whereabouts online. Keep in mind every time you do this, you tell anyone watching exactly where you are and how far you are away from home.
22. Remove any geotagging dat
Remove any geotagging data from your smart phone, iPhone or Blackberry. Your smart phone may have this function without your knowledge. There are numerous online websites that help you do this for your phone. Just search online to find one.
23. Remove any pictures with location data
Remove any pictures with location data of you and your family. Pay specific attention to those pictures near and around your home, and places that you regularly visit. Many cell phones and iTouches automatically tag each photograph taken with the location of the picture. When downloaded onto social networking websites, these locations can reveal where you live and work, and identify other members of your family.
24. Main precautions
There are many precautions to take when you are practicing online social networking. Some of the precautions to take are, make sure you keep your personal information personal, also limit the viewers you have to your posting. You will need to be sure and set your privacy setting so that only friends can access your postings. Be careful with new friends, and post only what everyone you know, and a few million you dont know, can see. Take precautions with photos and what you say or post about family and friends. If you take these precautions when you are practicing online social networking you can have a safer and better time online.
25. Check your social media pages regularly
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. Do not automatically trust that posts are from who they claim they are; if your workmate sends you a private message asking for some confidential information first verify that he/she did really send you that message as their account might have been compromised.
26. Google your own premises and check the results
Google your own premises and check the results. Set up Google and Twitter alerts (the latter on TweetDeck) with the name of your premises so that you can keep up to date with new developments. If an event at your premises is promoted on a social media site, ensure that you control the guest.
27. Use caution when you click links
Use caution when you click linksthat you receive in messages from your friends on your social website. Treat links in messages on these sites as you would links in email messages. (For more information, seeApproach links in email with cautionandClick Fraud: Cybercriminals want you to like it.)
28. Know what youve posted about yourself
Know what youve posted about yourself.A common way that hackers break into financial or other accounts is by clicking the Forgot your password? link on the account login page. To break into your account, they search for the answers to your security questions, such as your birthday, home town, high school class, or mothers middle name. If the site allows, make up your own password questions, and dont draw them from material anyone could find with a quick search.
29. Dont trust that a message is really from who it says its from
Hackers can break into accounts and send messages that look like theyre from your friends, but arent. If you suspect that a message is fraudulent, use an alternate method to contact your friend to find out. This includes invitations to join new social networks. For more information, seeScammers exploit Facebook friendships.
30. To avoid giving away email addresses of your friends
To avoid giving away email addresses of your friends, do not allow social networking services to scan your email address book.When you join a new social network, you might receive an offer to enter your email address and password to find out if your contacts are on the network. The site might use this information to send email messages to everyone in your contact list or even everyone youve ever sent an email message to with that email address. Social networking sites should explain that theyre going to do this, but some do not.