Facebook = Stalkbook

So I know we have been talking a lot about how social media, such as Facebook, is useful for networking, staying in touch, finding old friends, advertising, getting a message out and many other useful and time wasting gadgets.

Well, there is also a scary side to Facebook. The side that people know about but often don’t really do anything to protect themselves from. Once you put something on Facebook, it is public knowledge. Anyone can see it, read it, use it or pass on that information to anyone in the world. Many people put lots of information on their Facebook that can be harmful if the wrong person found it. Full names, birth dates, home address, phone number, email, photos, education and work information, and much more are available to anyone with an Internet access.

Recently, a friend of mine started receiving random text messages from someone who knew an awful lot about her and said it was coincidence. It turns out it was someone she went to high school with and hadn’t seen in years. He found her on Facebook, looked at her pictures and interests  and started contacting her acting like they had a lot in common to start conversation with him. He started sending her gifts in the mail such as expensive jewelery, autographed sports merchandise, spa package gift certificates and more… It is pretty creepy the stuff that people can find out about you from your facebook.

Here is a video that I thought was pretty funny, and accurate:

I can only offer a few small pointers to try to keep yourself safe from this kind of behaviour. If you are going to make a facebook account, put a minimal ammount of personal information on it as possible. Don’t put your address, phone number or anything that you don’t want the whole world knowing. If there is even one person that you don’t want seeing something, DO NOT POST IT! You can also set your preferences so that only certain groups of people can see your photos or your profile. It can be certain networks, groups of friends, or custom lists of individuals. Use this privacy feature and you will be able to screen some of the weirdos out. Social media can be a useful tool in an electronic age, but when it comes to putting your life on the internet, BE CAREFUL!