Social Media Security: Are You Safe?

Social media’s explosion has penetrated every aspect of daily life. “There’s an app for that!” isn’t just a saying anymore—it’s quite true! The brainiacs at Google, Facebook, Zynga, and countless other social-media driven entities are constantly cooking up ways to help us communicate with one another on our mobile devices. It’s as easy as swiping your finger across the screen; so easy, in fact, that sometimes we forget what information we’re giving away.

Mashable recently reported that 80% of law enforcement officials utilize social media to solve crimes.  great news for the safety of the general public, this staggering statistic shows just how freely social media users post personal information. Mashable’s study noted that Facebook and YouTube were the most commonly used sites for identifying possible suspects and sites for criminal activity.
 

Through location-based services like Foursquare, users can discern where you live, work, and hang out. Tweets can be linked to your geographical location, showing the Twittersphere not only where you are, but possibly who you’re with and what you’re doing, depending on your tweet’s content. Facebook is a veritable social network of everyone you know, lending valuable information to anyone with less-than-benevolent intentions.
 

What we don’t want to do is scare you into NOT using social media and location-based networking but rather to be SMART. Follow these tips to keep your private information… private:
 

-       Know the privacy settings on the social networking account you’re using.
 

-       Only accept friends you know on location-based sites (Foursquare, GoWalla, Facebook).
 

-       Make sure you DISABLE location photo tagging on your smartphone.
 

-       Check in to a venue as you’re leaving (especially good for women).
 

-       Don’t share when you’re out of town.
 

-       Finally, remember that that the Internet is forever… and so is the info you put out there.