Social Media Safety

Be aware of what’s public

When was the last time you Googled yourself? Doing so regularly is a good way to see what kinds of information about you — or images and videos of you — are publicly available.

Check your privacy settings

Every social media platform offers ways to control what information you’re sharing with whom. Check these settings often as they change all the time.

Don’t share anything you don’t want your grandchildren to see

Even if you have your privacy settings set to the max, don’t share anything online you wouldn’t want your grandchildren to see. Assume that once you’ve posted it, it’s online and findable forever.

Don’t accept friend requests from strangers

One way to control who sees your posts or has access to information about you is to only accept friend requests from people you know on platforms like Snapchat, Facebook and LinkedIn

Regardless of what platform you’re on, don’t share personal information like your phone number, home address, email address , work related private documents or Work ID number. If you need to share that information, do it privately and make sure you know who you’re sharing it with and why they need the information.

Be aware of phishing scams

Be mindful when giving out your phone number, email address and other personal information online because, because this makes you a potential target for phishing scams and texts, emails or other communication with malicious software attachments. Don’t open suspicious emails or other messages.

Don’t reply to them. Don’t click on links contained within the communication and don’t provide your phone number, email address or any other information on a web page you may be directed to.

Keep an eye on your passwords

We all have too many passwords, but it’s important to ensure that all your passwords are different and as obscure as possible. A good password should contain a few capital letters, numbers and a symbol.

Don’t share your passwords and be sure to change them regularly. Also, make sure you have a password lock on your phone. Use apps like “Find My iPhone” to protect the data on your phone should it be lost or stolen.

Two Factor Authentication

Always opt for two-way authentication whenever it’s available (i.e. when you need your username/password along with a piece of information that only you know, to log into a site).

Opt for email notifications for every log in. Check third-party apps regularly to see which has automatic access to your social media accounts. De-authorize ones you’re no longer using.

Check community guidelines

Always check the community guidelines on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat and every other social media site