How to protect yourself from online social network dangers

Social network users should be aware that sharing such information as where they live, school, work and so on with a stranger they met only online could be tantamount to leading criminals to their homes, schools or work places.

Things like identity theft happens regularly online, sexual molesters and rapists have flooded the online space in search of prey and people have equally had their pictures stolen from their profiles and used in a negative way.

The dangers in online social networking are obviously not going to stop any time soon. But we can always make effort to navigate through it safely and unhurt. Since it remains impossible to know everybody we converse with online, it remains necessary that we act smartly online by trying to keep certain personal information away from unknown people. That way, they will have no clues to locate you. 

You can protect yourself and your family from these online dangers through the following ways:

Parents

As parents or guardians of a minor who frequently uses the Internet for school or pleasure, there are a few things you can do to keep your child safe:

• Keep the computer centrally located in the house
• Know with whom your child is conversing; you can keep a history of all instant messages, text messages, e-mails and Web sites visited
• Never let your child meet anyone online in person without your knowledge or without you being present
• Post a set of Internet house rules near the computer that contain the following requirements:
• Never give out last name, phone number, address, school or other identifying information
• A posted amount of time he or she is allowed to spend online not doing schoolwork
• A list of social networks he or she is allowed to visit; make sure parental controls are in place
• Rules of common courtesy that include being polite and not writing anything that would be construed as sexual, racial or personal misconduct.
• Never let your child use your credit card information to purchase something
• Frequently change your passwords to your online social networks, as well as to any other account you access through the Internet.

Children and Teenagers

• There are some things that youths can do to keep safe while networking with others online:
  • Never give out personal information to anyone
  • Never make threatening or rude remarks
  • Know with whom you are chatting
  • Don’t believe everything someone tells you about himself or herself
  • If you ever feel uncomfortable with what someone is talking about, tell an adult