![[photo]-Safe on Facebook](http://www.divine.ca/en/upload/articles/fbf91d5f9a9bb93e95a82d8b7890a043.jpg)
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If you don’t yet have a profile on either idivine, MySpace, Friendster, Hi5, or the latest social networking phenomenon, Facebook, you may be one of the few, at least in North America. What’s all the fuss about? Social networking sites allow you to create a profile to share with the world (or a few select people depending on your privacy settings). You can also join groups with people that have similar interests and, in the case of Facebook, re-connect with long-lost friends. Wondering what your best friend from kindergarten has been up to? She’s probably on Facebook—all you have to do is look her up and add her as a friend. Wonderful, isn’t it? Of course, sharing information about yourself over the Internet always has its risks, and with Facebook, you’re asked to use your real first and last names—which means anyone can look you up and find your profile. This also means it’s a prime environment for fraud and identity theft. There have also been tales of potential employers searching Facebook for information on candidates that have applied for a position. However, misfortunes can be kept to a minimum if you follow a few simple guidelines. To that end, we’ve put together a short list of dos and don’ts to help you manage your profile on social networking sites, specifically Facebook. Follow them and avoid over-exposing yourself to the world—and keep your risk of encountering related problems to a minimum. *DO set the security settings of your profile to “Only my friends”. This way, you’ll be able to control who has access to your information and pictures. *DON’T include your phone numbers and mailing address, children’s or pets’ names in your profile. Try not to give people too much information—if they’re your friends in real life, then they already have your contact info, and shouldn’t have to resort to searching Facebook to find it. As for kids’ and pets’ names, people often use these as passwords, so it’s not recommended to publish them online. *DON’T hesitate to “ignore” a friend request if you don’t actually know the person who sent it. You never know who they might be—a future employer? Someone trying to find out information on you or your friends? Make sure your network of online friends reflects your actual, non-virtual social network. *DON’T put up pictures of yourself under the influence of any type of substance. This means: no dancing-on-the-bar-pictures, or candid shots of the last time you got hammered with your friends at happy hour. Once they’re on the web, you may no longer have control over who sees them—same goes for naked or semi-naked pics. *DO monitor the pictures that other people put up of you and tag you on (“tag”: square around your face on a photo; displays your name and links to your profile). Don’t worry—there’s no need to browse all of your friends’ profiles daily to do this: just go to your profile page and click “View Photos of You” (right beneath your main profile pic). You’ll then see an index of photos of yourself that were added by you, as well as others your friends have tagged you on. |
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Thanks for the info. I'm going to share this with my husband. He has a profile and uses Facebook everyday. I've already banned him from posting pictures of the children. I should share this with my mom too, she can be a wee bit naive when it comes to the internet. -
These are some good guidelines that constant 'Crackbook' addicts need to read. Will definitely post on Facebook, which......I only use once a week.
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I had facebook... but got rid of it after a while.. gets boring.. :S -
I have face book, it's cool. You get to add people on your friends list and then you get to veiw their page and they get to view my page. We can sent eachother Messages, and send cute online gifts.
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Thanks for the info-as usual you give us the info we need to know -
Thanks for the info from me as well....I already like to use the privacy settings for more personal info since as u stated your friends already know who u are. -
Great info..definitely applies to most social networking sites. -
meh. im not about this really.
if you set your profile to "only my friends" then screw worrying about your pictures and stuff.
im not ashamed that i like to take pictures of my joints and having drinks and bongts with my friends. And if i wanna share those pictures with my friends then it shouldnt matter. -
Not really a fan of Facebook, but good advice!!-
That is true lol
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Good suggestions, I've followed them all!
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I belong to Alot of social networks including those mentioned and than some. To be honest I love them. I especially the new one I joined This One. I joined Facebook and have reconnected with friends I havent seen since I was Elementry School. But be more honest I Divine.ca is the best. Im recommending it to all my friends. -
This is a "common sense" article when it comes to Facebook or any other community websites where you post pictures of yourself and friends and comment on postings. Agree 100% with this advice.
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Thank you for the information; I just wish people would not post their life stories on facebook
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rose
October 16, 2010 at 11:56 amI was on face book but did not like it so I cancel it and went to divine. is divine like face book and do I have to make certain settings for that. Hate face book -
rose
October 16, 2010 at 11:56 amI was on face book but did not like it so I cancel it and went to divine. is divine like face book and do I have to make certain settings for that. Hate face book -
OMG. What a blind spot. I thought I was being careful..but immediately after reading the first recommendation I went and made some important changes in Catbook. by the way, it's not private to friends only by default.
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Thanks for the tips, I really needed them, I have already taken off a lot of info on Facebook, also stopped accepting a lot of flowers etc, alway seem to get a virus. -
Thanks for the tips, I really needed them, I have already taken off a lot of info on Facebook, also stopped accepting a lot of flowers etc, alway seem to get a virus.
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More people need to be aware of this. -
More people need to be aware of this.
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More people need to be aware of this.
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Thanks for the guidelines.
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This is good information - lots of young people my age are posting pictures of their children and lots of personal information. They seem unaware of the consequences.
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This is good information - lots of young people my age are posting pictures of their children and lots of personal information. They seem unaware of the consequences.
this
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