eSocial Networks

Unless you haven’t been living under a rock since the past decade, you should have come across one of the many social networks that are becoming a rage online. Social networks are connection every person with access to internet to each other. Social networks have created a new means to connect with friends and strangers from around the world and how we interact with them. People who meet once will not have to get separated from each other’s lives because of these social networks. People update information about themselves and what’s happening in their lives so that other can know. So do others. Sharing of songs, pictures and videos, was never so easier with. Knowing ones dislikes and likes too wasn’t as simple as a few clicks away.

Currently the leading social networks which are popular are Facebook, Myspace, Orkut and a few others. Twitter is a different kind of social network where constant updates about the user keep people in the loop. These websites have been successful in changing the fabric of human existence so much so that people now have reduced physical interaction in favor of online interaction. It has created a new breed of internet addicts who are losing the touch with reality. The incredible number of people online has prompted social networking sites to generate huge revenues in terms of advertisements and other sources such as games. Just Facebook has more than 500 million people connected to each other by these social networks. With increasing penetration of internet these social networks will only increase. Along with these is also increase in online crime which is increasing with the increase in the number of people. New users and old users both will have to know the disadvantages and threats of using internet. With children as less than 13 going online, internet has to be made more safer for the new generation by imparting knowledge about the threats.

Is the Internet Safe?

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When you go online, you’re bound to find a wealth of information in just about any category or industry that you can think of. Many people shop voraciously online, finding everything from homes to cars and all that in between. There are others who may go to school online or use the Internet to access their favorite social networking site to chat with their friends and find old acquaintances. Whatever the pleasure is, the Internet has proven to be a place where people can find whatever they need. But is it safe?

Those who frequent any online websites on a frequent basis usually know that there is certain information about yourself that you shouldn’t give out over the Internet. Especially when it comes to financial information, there are all kinds of red flags that go off to signal to a person to keep that to themselves. But transacting and interacting online is not a bad thing to do. It has gotten a bad reputation because of the isolated stories in the news and the instances where a person’s credit card or financial information has been breached. Some things to caution against would include:

- Never transact on a site that doesn’t have the https:// tag. The “s” indicates that the site is secure and is hard for hackers to penetrate.

- Do not divulge your personal information like address, place of employment, date or birth or even your cell phone number on a social site.

- Watch your digital imprint and what information you leave. This includes merchant sites and social sites.

On a broad basis, the Internet is in fact a safe place to be. There are of course Internet predators who wait to access your private information, but with a few precautions, you can avoid them and have a successful online experience.

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Personal Information and the Internet

If you were to take a quick look at your favorite social networking site and look at your profile, what would you see?

- Is your address listed there?

- Is your birth date, with the year included also listed there?

- What about your work address, title, or the company’s name?

- Is your cell phone number listed as well?

If you see these things on the site, will you remove them or let them remain? Many people feel that it’s absolutely harmless to list their personal information on a public page, primarily because they feel that no one cares what’s there, or that only their “friends” can see their information.

For the most part, much of that thinking is true. Many people don’t care and don’t give your information a second glance. But for that instance when it does matter or when someone does take notice of it, you may want to reconsider leaving it up on your site or page for the world to see.

If you have information that is accessible on certain sites all over the Internet, then you may want to trim down those occurrences and streamline the places where you’ve left your digital print. One way to do this that is really helpful is to only provide certain information that only you can control, and be sure to not give out more than what’s necessary.

Always provide basic information and be careful of sites that ask for more details like your car’s color, or the name of your favorite restaurant. These things are “clues” that can be connected to help find you. This can be a potential danger with predators or stalkers who want to do you harm.

Stay in control of your information at all times and keep private information private. Use the Internet wisely and you’ll be sure to get more enjoyment out of it.

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