How Can You Protect Yourself on Social Media Sites?

How Can You Protect Yourself On Social Media Sites?

Staying in touch with friends, family, classmates and co-workers can be a lot of fun and add enjoyment and texture to our online lives. Social media platforms made it incredibly easy to set up a profile, explore interests, express our point of view, ask questions, “meet” new people, gain exposure to new ideas . . . and so much more.

Unfortunately, every interaction on social media isn’t positive. Not everyone on social media is who they claim to be. Not every social media account is run by a real human being. And scammers are working overtime to take over accounts and engage in identity theft.

What can you do to improve your odds of having a positive experience on social media?

1. Secure Your Social Media Accounts

Lock down your social media accounts with a strong, Modern Password. Creating these is a breeze if you use a Password Manager. Lock down your Password Manager with a strong passphrase. Then turn on Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) to add another layer of security to your social media account. If one of your social accounts doesn’t provide text verification for free accounts, you definitely have the option of setting up and using an authentication app or a YubiKey for MFA.

While you’re at it, feel free to get wildly creative with those security questions! Why not have fun creating some wacky, humorous and non-factual answers. In this scenario, it’s perfectly fine to leave reality behind. Store those lol-inducing answers in your password manager, since you’re unlikely to remember them. Your first pet’s name? How about “spaghetti”? Your favorite car? Could be “The Grand Canyon” . . . or anything else bizarrely unlike actual reality.

2. Be Careful with Online Quizzes/Questionnaires

Creators put these things everywhere! And mostly they seem fun and harmless. But sometimes the purpose of these quizzes is to gather random details about you that might be used by a scammer. It’s always up to you — fill ‘em out or don’t. Just be aware that those online quizzes aren’t always as innocent as they seem.

3. Review Your Social Media Privacy Settings

Each social media platform offers the ability to change the privacy settings for your account. Privacy settings tend to answer the question: “Who can see what?” Here you’ll probably find settings concerning audience defaults (“public,” “friends of friends,” “friends only,” etc.), location, photos, contact information, tagging, and if people can find your profile in searches.This limits who can see your profile and the content you post:

• Visible to the public

• Visible to friends and connections

• Not visible at all, or visible to only you

Be mindful that what you post on social media may still be findable by someone using a search engine, like Google.

4. Limit Sharing Personal Information

Yes, it’s true, the point of social media is to connect with people, and to share yourself with others. But that doesn’t mean you have to tell everyone everything about yourself to get value out of social media. Think twice before posting sensitive info like your address, phone number or birthday.

5. Be Careful About Posting Your Location

Several social media apps allow you to note your location. For example:

• "Checking in" to a sporting event or restaurant on Facebook

• Geotagging, or adding a location, to an Instagram photo or TikTok video

• Adding a geofilter (a location-specific overlay available in certain areas) to your Snapchat story

Adding your location can be a fun way to share where you are or what you’re doing with your social media friends. But there are risks. For example, geotagging can include specific location data, like latitude and longitude coordinates and place names. It can expose your exact location when posting pictures or updates. Criminals can use these locations to track potential victims and target an empty home or business for a burglary.

If you add your location to your posts, review your privacy settings first and consider who in your online networks can see your posts.

6. Advice From The Social Platforms

Here are some helpful links to the guidance provided by each of the major social media platforms:

• Facebook
  Basic privacy settings and tools

• X (formerly Twitter)
  How to protect and unprotect your Tweets

• YouTube
  Privacy and safety

• Instagram
  Privacy settings and information

• LinkedIn
  Account and privacy settings overview

• Snapchat
  Privacy settings

• Tiktok
  Privacy and security settings

Let’s explore some of the more human aspects of using social media

1. Pause Before You Post

What happens on the Internet stays online forever, one way or another. Even if you delete something you’ve posted, there are still copies left on servers somewhere in the cloud. Once you post something online, it’s remarkably difficult (and even impossible) to completely remove it. Search engines and browsers "cache" web pages to improve loading times, which can allow access to your content even after you’ve deleted it. Impulsive posts can have lasting repercussions affecting your personal and professional reputation. So why not pause just for a few seconds before posting?

2. Is Your Employer Viewing Your Social Media Account?

It’s useful to remember that many companies routinely view current or prospective employees’ social media accounts, so keep that in mind while choosing what you say, what pictures you post and your profile.

3. Walk Away From Heated Debates or Arguments

It’s really tempting to get sucked into an argument or confrontation on social media, and situations can deteriorate quickly. Toxic experiences include cyberbullying, harassment, or other forms of online abuse. But even if it doesn’t go that far, isn’t your mental health more important than winning an argument with some stranger online? Especially if there’s a chance the account you're sparring with is actually an automated “bot”, and not even a human? Is the stress and anxiety really worth it? You always have the option not to respond. Your safety and peace of mind are the top priority.

Everything Isn’t As Shiny As It Appears

There’s nothing wrong with putting our best foot forward, making a good impression, or emphasizing what’s going right in our lives. But we’ve all lived long enough to know that lives are complicated, and sometimes messy. And rarely as fantastic as many people present online. It’s easy to get caught up into the trap of comparing ourselves to other people, especially if it seems as if their life is so much more interesting than ours. But here’s a thought — maybe you’re great just the way you are! Comparison is the thief of joy. Don’t let it rob you of enjoying your time online.

Have fun with social media, and stay safe online!

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— Anthony Collette

Digital Kleptos™