Too Much Information

On social networking sites,
you may be giving away more than you think

Popular Websites like Facebook, MySpace, Friendster, Flickr, Blogspot, and Xanga make it easy to build a web of friends, and keep them abreast of your whereabouts, your contact information, and your personal attributes.

But be careful: you could be putting your safety and your future at risk.

Never forget: the words and pictures you post on the Internet may be available for years. Your profile may be viewed not only by your friends, but also by identity thieves and stalkers -- as well as future employers and school admissions counselors.

Social networking sites explained

Sometimes called "friend-of-a-friend" sites, social networking Websites build upon the concept of traditional social networks in the "real world," connecting users to new people through mutual acquaintances and common interests.

The very nature of such sites encourages users to provide a certain amount of personal information. But when deciding how much information to reveal, people may not exercise the same amount of caution on a Website as they would when meeting someone in person. This happens because

• the Internet provides a sense of anonymity;
• the lack of physical interaction provides a false sense of security; and
• they tailor the information for their friends to read, forgetting that others may see it.

Sharing too much information on social networking sites can be problematic in two ways: first, it can put your personal safety at risk; and second, it can reveal something about you that you'd rather your current or future employer or school administrator not know.

Now, just a quick background check...

Recent media coverage has highlighted a new, fast-growing trend among corporate recruiters and school admissions officials: more than just Googling candidates, many are now monitoring social networking sites, too.

Web pages containing risqué photos and provocative comments about drinking, recreational drug use, and hookups can make applicants look immature and lacking in professional judgment.

Many people share such things because they mistakenly believe their page will have relative privacy -- particularly on Facebook, a site that, at one time, had specific requirements to register and was not open to the general public. (That has changed in recent years, and Facebook is now open to non-University students.) But viewing personal profiles on Facebook can still be restricted to friends and others on the user's campus, leading many students to assume that their posts are relatively private.

But companies and schools are finding ways to work around this while conducting their background checks. Often, they ask a recent graduate or intern to do the research for them. And most take what is posted very seriously, as it reveals the applicant's level of common sense and gives insight into their personality.

Reports have even surfaced recently of school administrators and police monitoring social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace to identify illegal activities, such as underage drinking, hazing, and other inappropriate conduct.

So, when deciding whether to post that racy picture, snide remark, or gruesome detail about last night's party, the guiding principle should be the "grandmother test:" if you wouldn't want her to see it, then don't share it. Content that might be amusing and harmless to you may not be seen in the same light by an admissions officer, school official, or future employer.

Remember, what happens on the Web stays on the Web.

Social networking sites can make life easier for spammers and stalkers

Another potential downside of social networking sites is that they allow others to know a person's contact information, interests, habits, and whereabouts. Consequences of sharing this information can range from the relatively harmless but annoying -- such as an increase in spam -- to the potentially deadly -- such as stalking.

While the vast majority of people using social networking sites do not pose a threat, malicious people may be drawn to them because of the accessibility and amount of personal information available on them.

When deciding whether to post something, remember that the more information malicious people have about you, the easier it is for them to take advantage of you.

The risks to children and teens

Children and young teens are especially susceptible to the threats that social networking sites present. Although many of these sites have age restrictions, there is no real way to enforce these requirements, and children may misrepresent their ages so that they can join.

Predators may target children, teens, and other unsuspecting persons online - sometimes posing to be someone else - and then slowly form relationships with them and then convince them to meet in person.

Or, criminals can use information provided about a person's location, hobbies, interests, and friends to impersonate a trusted friend or convince the unsuspecting that they have the authority to access personal or financial data.

Parents should be sure they teach children about Internet safety, stay aware of kids' online habits, and utilize all tools and resources available to them to help them monitor minors' Internet use. Guiding children to appropriate Websites and training teens to recognize inappropriate content and unsolicited contact will also help. Taking such steps will help children and teens become safe and responsible computer users.

Ways to protect yourself on social networking sites

Limit who can see what you post. If you don't want random users to see your contact information, you can limit the publication of that data. Just change your settings. You can also block users from having any contact with you should the need arise.

One simple and quick setting (on Facebook) you can change to increase privacy is to restrict the viewing of your profile only to users at your own college or to only your "friend" list. Most social networking sites offer similar ways to restrict access to personal information, but in all cases, the principle is the same: don't advertise to the world what you're doing or where you live.

But don't forget that even if you limit who can see what you post, there are ways others can get around it to view your profile anyway.

Limit what you post. Don't share things that would make you vulnerable to unwanted contact (such as sharing your email address, physical address, or phone number) or to stalking (such as information about your schedule or routine).

Also, if your friends or connections post such information about you, make sure the combined information on their pages is not more than you would be comfortable with strangers knowing.

Remember, you can't take it back!

It's important to recognize that once you publish something online, it is available to other people and to search engines. You can't retract it.

Even if you go back and remove the information from a site, it's always possible that someone has already seen it. And they may have saved a copy.

In addition, some search engines "cache" copies of Web pages so that they open faster; these cached copies may be available a long time after a Web page has been deleted or altered. Some Web browsers, also, maintain a cache of the Web pages a user has visited, so the original version of your posting may be stored in someone else's machine.

The bottom line? Once something is out there, there's no guarantee you can take it back.