SOCIAL MEDIA SPECIAL... 5 things you should never share on social media

5 things you should never share on social media





We all enjoy networking and sharing photos, but some information or posts can put you at risk

Over the past decade, social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have become an important part of our daily life. These days, you cannot meet a person who doesn't have a single social media account.Our long phone calls have been replaced by messaging apps, newspapers by news feeds and civic protests by hashtags.Despite all the benefits that social media brings, your actions on a virtual platform can create a lot of trouble in your real life.Check out the five things you must never do on social media.

1 DON'T SHARE EMBARRASSING PHOTOS OF YOURSELF

Always avoid posting embarrassing pictures of you or your friends. “Pictures you share may be taken at face value, andor viewed as representative of your character -not to mention live on forever on the internet. What seems cute in high school or college may not seem quite so endearing to potential employers,“ says Scott Steinberg, author of Netiquette Essentials: New Rules for Minding Your Manners in a Digital World.

2 AVOID NEGATIVE AND ANGRY POSTS

Journalist and former beauty queen Germany Kent writes, “Don't promote negativity online and expect people to treat you with positivity in person.“ At all costs, keep your relationship dramas and frustration at work away from social media. Importantly, washing your laundry in public is not going to bring anything positive to your life. Rather, you will leave a negative image.

3 DON'T CONNECT WITH PEOPLE YOU DON'T WANT TO CONNECT WITH IN THE REAL WORLD

Before connecting with your colleagues on social networks, ask yourself if you'd still want to be connected to them if they were not your co-workers. According to Scott Steinberg, “Consider that connecting with colleagues and supervisors may expose you or them to information and influences that may make either party uncomfortable -be certain to understand the risk you're taking in doing so.“

4 AVOID POSTING SENSITIVE INFORMATION

Few months ago, a person shared a picture of his credit card and car keys on Instagram boasting about the good time he was going to have with his friends. What this person didn't realise was the level of sensitive information he just gave away. Right there was his credit card number, its expiry date, and the name on the card. There is a high demand for stolen credit card numbers in places like the dark web and the potential harm that can be caused is endless. So, here is the most important part, never post sensitive or confidential information on your social media.

5 DON'T SHARE YOUR LOCATION WHEREABOUTS

Gone are the days when burglars sat outside the house waiting for people to fall asleep before they broke in. Now they just stalk you on Facebook. There is a high possibility of a stalker seeing the new `travelling to' update you just posted to make your friends jealous of your European trip. Be extremely careful in sharing your location and travel whereabouts.

lifehacker.co.in