Choose your ‘friends’ wisely

Over the past few weeks there have been stories about identity theft and how it relates to the internet – namely social media.

For years we have been warned, though it has always seemed like common sense to me, to keep your private information, well, private.

Everybody wants to be seen these days. Whether that’s by posting pictures and bragging on Facebook or giving constant life-glorifying updates on Twitter, there is now a platform for anybody to be heard and seen anywhere in the world.

While that has been a dream for many, it has also turned into a nightmare for people, too. My response to that: duh!

It might seem like a good idea at the time, but is it really necessary to get completely drunk and post messages or pictures online? We have heard the term “drunk dialing” but I guess now it can be called “drunk posting.”

People are (still) shocked when something from their past comes back to bite them in the butt. We see it a lot in politics that when someone is running for office, social media posts from five or six years ago magically come to light to destroy their reputation.

Many people suspect Facebook’s popularity has peaked and social networking and the extreme exploitation of people’s lives has come to an end. Yeah, I don’t think so.

More and more people say they are sick of putting everything out there, but are they really willing to give up that time in the spotlight? Yeah, I don’t think so.

I am one of the few people my age to not embrace social media. While I am on Facebook, I have never posted personal information about my family (aside from pictures of my dogs, which is what my radio audience seems to appreciate) and never have I broadcast details about what is happening in my personal life. I don’t run to the internet to tell people what I had for breakfast or what I am wearing tonight.

It’s incredible we have platforms that we can see and meet people anywhere in the world. Don’t get me wrong, I am not denying that. But people have been too freely giving personal information to strangers or someone who clicked their name on Facebook and added as a “friend.”

Remember, we are one big happy family… with hackers and identity thieves and perverts. Choose your “friends” wisely.

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