Like most things in life, Social Networking has its pros and cons. It sometimes reminds me of a breeding ground for useless information, but it's also a breeding ground of too much information. I just read an article about how participating on a social networking may eventually effect your insurance rates because "careless posts" potentially increase the chances of your home being burglarized. This could just be an easy out for insurance companies to exploit more money from people, but at the same time it makes sense because, as far as how much personal information is too much information to display to the public; social networking has created an epidemic of people who don't know where do draw the line.
For example, I recently joined the android phone craze and downloaded the facebook app, and now; not only does it show the standard facebook jive but when dialing a number, it shows numbers from my phone contacts and facebook friends list. This actually blew my mind. I was completely shocked by how many people actually had their numbers posted publicly, and thought to myself "why in the world would ANYONE want everyone of their facebook friends to know their phone number?" I know I don't! Social networking may be a great way to stay in touch with family and friends but it can also leave your personal information exposed to people with bad intentions.
Even though you may not verbally tell all, cellphones nowadays embed mobile pictures with gps "geotags" which, when posted online, can be hacked and show your location. So my advice to social "networkees" would be to cover up! Take advantage of security settings and set restrictions on your page. You never know who could be lurking your information.Its better to be safe than sorry and sharing photos or blogging just isn't worth the consequences that could occur if your personal information leeks to the hands of a creeper.
Just in case you're interested in reading more heres a link to the insurance article I mentioned, and more information on cell phone GPS tags
Hope everyone has an amazing Thanksgiving and a safe Black Friday!
Wow, I didn't know all that. I am kind of paranoid about what I put in my profile but not everyone is. I usually don't share more than my name and an alternate email I use for such things. That seems like it is set up just for that sort of thing. The guys that design this sort of thing are smart but that just isn't very smart unless they intended it. That's a scary thought by itself. Thanks for that.
ReplyDeleteThe image cracked me up by the way.
ReplyDeleteWow April. I didn't know all this stuff existed either. I am not as surprised as I am disappointed.
ReplyDeleteA lot of my friends think I am pretty lame for not expanding my social network page any further than co-workers.
I didn't feel the need to reciprocate the flip side of that sentiment verbally or as a post ;).
Thanks for the information. You have a Happy Thanksgiving and a safe Black Friday too!
Jeez April... now I'm more paranoid than I was before! I've always wondered how Facebook and others make money. I'm sure there are many other things going on behind the scenes... often at the expense of our privacy.
ReplyDeleteOh whatever April! You love facebook and you know it ;) haha.. See ya tomorrow!
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