Humpday Hint: Staying Safe on Social Media

Contributing Author: Gentle Heron

Why should you think about social media safety? Two main reasons are the potential for identity theft and the large number of existing social media scams.

Probably the most important advice on how to stay safe on social media is to set your profiles to “Private” and restrict contacts to people you know personally. Don’t accept random friend requests.

Be especially careful of people you meet through social media sites who offer you something you want or need, such as romance or a cure for your incurable disease or easy money. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Avoid clicking links unless you know the person sending the link and the reason they are sending it to you. Otherwise you may end up downloading malware onto your computer.

It’s best not to respond to “limited time offers.” That’s a common sales technique to get you to spend money you might not have spent if you had more time to consider the offer

Don’t overshare personal information. You don’t have to fill out all the blanks on your social media profile. Nobody needs to know your home address or phone number. Also, don’t give out account information. Ever!

Editor's Note: You only need to fill in those fields that are required in your social profile (they are usually marked with a red asterisk, like this: *)