Whether you run a business or are just an individual who spends lots of time on social media, it is important that you don’t open the doors up to identity theft and other computer-related problems by being too social.
Having a secure presence on the Internet is important for myriad of reasons, most notably so that your personal information is not being stolen, information that could cause you numerous problems were it to be swiped.
With that in mind, what are you doing to make sure your time spent on social media is not proving to be too risky for you and/or your brand?
Some of the factors to keep in mind when using social networking include:
- Giving away company secrets – For the business owner, make sure your employees (if you have them) do not spill company secrets all over social media. This can include an array of things, one example being two employees discussing personal client information. If someone has hacked into one or more social media accounts, they can quickly learn pertinent client details by monitoring a Facebook conversation between two employees. Another example would be one of your former employees (see more below) giving out personal company information on their Twitter page, hoping to hurt you and your brand. While you could threaten to hold that former worker libel for their postings, you can avoid the problem altogether by making sure that any important client or company information you have stays with you and only with you. While it is commonplace for companies to demand former employees on their way out the door not take any computer or handheld personal files, not all businesses enforce this rule;
- Alerting the world about your personal plans – How many times have you read in your newspaper or seen online about the homeowner whose residence was broken into while they were away, only to later learn that the individual posted information and/or pictures of their travel on social media? It happens more times than you might think, so don’t be that victim. Just as you can have total freedom in web browsing, you don’t want the same for potential hackers. Do your best to block identity and personal property thieves from getting to you in the first place. One of the ways to go about this is by using encryption to keep your personal information just that. You should also be monitoring who it is can follow you on social sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. For example, don’t take friend requests on your Facebook page from strangers (you can consider such requests if they are friends or family of people you trust on the site). Oftentimes, identity or personal property criminals will reach out to you, hoping you will then befriend them. When that happens, they have better access to your personal info. They may even disguise themselves as a business you trust, hoping you will click on a link and/or download malware;
- Negative talk of former or current employers – How many times have you seen current or former employees taking to social media to trash a company? Unfortunately, it happens more often than it should, leaving both the individual and the employer looking bad (even if the allegations are not true). This is yet another reason why employers should be careful in what they allow current workers to post on their social networking sites. Once the employee has left the company, the employer has little or no control over what the individual may say on Twitter, Facebook, and other such sites, again only threatening to file a lawsuit if untrue information is shared or tweeted. Meantime, those individuals who are currently working for a business need to be mindful that their employers may (and oftentimes are) visiting their social media sites. Tweeting out that your boss or co-worker is the worst human in the world isn’t exactly going to endear you to the company. With more and more companies using social media to scan the posts of current and potential employees (applicants), you don’t want your networking efforts blowing up in your face.
There is no denying that social media is popular and does not appear to be going anywhere anytime soon.
That being the case; avoid becoming too social when you hop on your social site or sites of choice.
Always keep in mind that there are countless individuals (many with bad intentions) monitoring your every move on social sites, hoping you make just that one mistake that lets them create a world of misery for you and what you represent.
Photo credit: BigStockPhoto.com
from Darlene Milligan http://ift.tt/1QZ4ItC via transformational marketing
from Tumblr http://ift.tt/1PeI3EQ
No comments:
Post a Comment