Virtually everyone spends some time every day on one of the many social media sites that have sprung up in recent years, keeping in touch with friends and making new ones. Although checking out what others in your social circle are up to can be a fun way to pass the time, there are those out there in social networking land who would do you harm, and for some, trolling and stalking innocent victims are favourite hobbies.

So, while Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and others are a great way to stay connected, it’s important to be careful just how much personal information you give others ready access to. Here are some top tips on how to stay safe when socialising and networking in cyberspace.

Security and privacy settings

All social networking profiles have a facility that enables you to set your security and privacy settings. It’s important that you learn how to do this as these settings are designed to keep you safe while you’re using the site. Through these settings you can control who sees your posts and if necessary, you can block undesirables from accessing your profile and sending you messages.

Post in haste, repent at leisure

Never be in too much of a hurry to post something online, whether that be a simple message or a picture. 

It is especially important to be careful what you put online if you use social media accounts for business and for job applications. These days, one of the routine things recruiters do is to Google someone who is applying for a job and many well-qualified candidates have been passed over because of what they’ve posted online.

In a nutshell, keep your personal accounts personal and have separate social networking accounts for your professional life. The easiest way to do this is to have multiple online pages within the different social media platforms so that you can keep your personal persona clearly separate from your business one.

Protect your personal information

Always be very careful about exactly how much of your personal information you divulge on your social networking profiles. Unscrupulous hackers could use this information to carry out identity theft, data access and even online stalking or cyber bullying.

When you have a large pool of virtual ‘friends’, you can also create different ‘groups’, based on mutual interests, fan clubs etc. Remember that these people may come from many different backgrounds and they may not all be well known to you personally. Use the tools provided in your profiles to manage what personal information you share with members of groups you are a member of.

Be careful what images you post

One of the joys of social networking sites is that they allow you to post photos and images to share with your friends. However, before posting a picture, ask yourself what impression of you this image will present to others, especially if all your pictures can be viewed by a general audience. Even seemingly innocent images could be spotted by a potential online stalker, landing you in a world of pain, especially if you have also divulged your personal phone number in your profile.

In a similar vein, always ask before posting a picture of a friend and be especially wary of posting pictures of friends’ children without first obtaining their permission to do so. If someone asks you to remove a post or picture from your social media account, always do so immediately.

Keep your accounts secure

The best way to protect your online presence against hackers and cybercriminals is to make sure that you have the most up-to-date security software, operating system and web browser installed on your computer.

Make sure that all the passwords you have set for your social media accounts are long, strong, and different for every account you hold. When choosing passwords, use symbols, numbers, and a combination of lower and upper case letters to make potential hackers’ lives as difficult as possible.

Be alert for suspicious activity

One of the most devious and popular methods used by hackers to compromise your machine and to gain access to your personal information is to use online advertising, tweets or posts embedded with malware or viruses. Most of these ‘Trojan horses’ contain links that activate the malware when you click on them, so consign anything like this to your trash bin immediately without opening it.

In conclusion

Social media sites can provide a great tool that you can use to keep in touch with friends and family all around the world. Stay safe online by bearing in mind the tips given above.

For more helpful information on cyber security and how to keep your personal data secure online, get in touch [https://www.1stcalldetectives.com/get-in-touch.php] with the helpful experts at 1st Call Detectives. We have a new encryption certificate for customer security and privacy, ensuring you of the important right to privacy.