ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — In just a few years, social media has revolutionized global communications. Billions of us ‘talk’ on Facebook and other platforms every day. But there are people out there who can turn our conversations against us. Now, some tips on how to keep you and your loved ones safe on social media.
“Gosh, it seems like if you don’t do social media now you’re almost non-existent in people’s minds. So I do it, not only because I have to but it’s fun.” Bree Goldstein who is the parent of a 1-year-old told Ivanhoe.
But the flip side of that fun may be risk, especially if you accept friend requests from strangers.
Shelley Costello, President of Creative Web Concepts USA warned, “This is the most important thing. Once you accept a friendship or connection on social media they now can check every video in your video files, every photo, the ‘about me’.”
“And some of them come from around the world. Even sometimes they have pictures that look very romantic, very enticing, very poetic, all of these things. I instantly delete those requests.” Angelique Renae’ who is the parent of a teenager explained.
But those random friend requests aren’t the only danger. To improve your privacy, turn off location tracking. And if you want to tell everyone you’re dropping off your child at daycare, don’t tell which one or when.
Costello stated, “He’s got a mom in a parking lot, lets’ play the game, it’s six thirty at night, six o’clock, picking up a child, might be dusk or dark, and there’s a perfect opportunity to follow that mom to another location.”
And if your teenagers have their own social media accounts, get their passwords. Period. Non-negotiable.
Renae’ stated, “We should have access and know to who their connected with, who their friends are. We should be able to approach our child and say hey let me see who you’re talking to.”
Another good reason to have your child’s password; you can immediately log on and connect with all of their friends should he or she go missing.
Experts also caution against accepting friend requests from people you are already friends with, their account could have been hacked. And don’t post those vacation photos until you’ve returned home.
The national crime prevention council has more safety tips on their website. Visit ncpc.org.
Contributors to this news report include: Debra Hall Green, Producer; Roque Correa, Videographer and Editor; Gabriella Battistiol, News Assistant.
