Social Media Do’s and Don’ts

These five mistakes can increase your risk of falling victim to a cyberthreat on social media.

By Leonard Balsera

Social media is now the primary way that we keep in touch with family, friends and loved ones, but you could be vulnerable to cyberattacks if you’re not careful about how you use it.

Following these tips can help protect you:

1. Never share sensitive information.

Your social media posts should never contain information that could be used to identify you, like your email address, home address, phone number, Social Security number, driver’s license number and any financial details. Even if your post can only be seen by friends or family, clever hackers can still potentially get that information.

2. Don’t take personality quizzes.

Most online personality quizzes are scams to collect information about you, which could be used to send you unwanted marketing emails or phishing attacks. They’re fun, but not worth the trouble.

3. Don’t accept friend requests from duplicate accounts.

If someone you are already friends with sends you another friend request, it could mean that a hacker is impersonating them. Check in with your friend on their original account or through another mode of communication to make sure the request is legitimate before accepting.

4. Don’t accept friend requests from strangers.

As a rule of thumb, if you don’t have at least one other method of contacting a person, such as their phone number or email address, you should not accept a friend request from them.

5. Think twice before leaving your profile public.

The default settings on a social media site are designed to make your profile as public as possible. Take a moment to go into the privacy settings for your account and adjust or manage the visibility of your profile to make sure you can keep prying eyes away from the content you’re sharing.

Remember, the safest connections online are the ones you control. With these tips, you can make your social media experience safer and more secure.

Personal Finance