TMI: To Say or Not to Say Online

The thing is, your parents are right to worry about the dangers online. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, approximately one-fifth of children have been sexually solicited in chat rooms, by instant message, or by e-mail.
(http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/17266/).

Online safety is something to be taken very seriously.  Global communication is a privilege that you have been granted and with that comes the need for responsibility.  Despite their greatest efforts, parents will never be able to completely monitor your activities online.  So the job of keeping yourself safe is ultimately going to fall into your own hands. Below are just some common-sense suggestions to help protect yourself online.

• DON’T POST SEXY OR PROVOCATIVE PICTURES: Photos can be duplicated and spread so quickly online that even posting these type of pictures with a friends only lock can be dangerous.  As cool as it is to look good in a bikini or less, there might come a time in your life when you don’t want to be remembered as a pseudo online porn star.  Posting those type of pictures is like opening a bag of feathers in the wind.  Once they’re out there, they are hard to get back.  In addition, just imagine all the creepy people that might view it.  Why even open yourself up to that exposure?  Just don’t post the pictures.
• DON’T POST PERSONAL INFORMATION LIKE YOUR CELL NUMBER, YOUR IM NAME OR YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS:  Hi, potential stalker alert here.  Do you want to give potential stalkers access to your life?  How annoying would it be to have to shut down your e-mail account, get a new IM name or phone number because some psycho is harassing you?  This one is so easy to avoid.  All your good friends will probably have this information anyway.
• DON’T GIVE OUT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION TO PEOPLE YOU MEET ONLINE: Kind of goes with the above stalking issues.  The thing is, almost every SN has messaging capability.  What else do you need to talk to someone?  Does this person REALLY need your cell so you can start receiving ten extra texts a day? Come on!
• DON’T MEET PEOPLE YOU HAVE MET ONLINE IN RL: Imagine the worst possible blind date times ten and you might get an inkling of what it would be like to meet your cyber buddy in RL.  It’s a bad idea, but if you HAVE to, absolutely DO NOT go alone.  The best situation would be if his/her group of friends could meet up with your group of friends in an extremely public place.  There is no if, ands or buts about this one. Anything else is as stupid as taking a ride from a stranger (we wouldn’t suggest that either).

See, like we said, the advice is obvious and simple.  The most plain advice we could give is think before you post.  Remember that everything that you put online could be accessed by anyone, anywhere.

What do you really want people to know about you?