Social Networking sites are a fun place to make friends and have a good laugh but you never know who exactly is behind the keyboard or how they function mentally. If you're not careful you can run into some real crazies which is why it is IMPORTANT to lock down your profile and be very careful of whom you choose to trust. The internet is a playground for rapists, stalkers, pedophiles, serial killers, murders and the mentally unstable.
There could be a day when you just happen to set someone off and they end up on your doorstep, leave a threatening note, throw a bag of bait-fish in your back yard and cause unnecessary property damage all because they could not handle the heat of a 'game' that they started.
Or you could be the very troll behind the keyboard that victimizes someone so brutally that they attempt or actually do take their own life. Is that really something that you would wish to live with? Who wants to be that person?
If you decide to meet someone from the internet make sure it is in a public place and ALWAYS bring a friend. Sometimes the people that you're meeting are NOT the people that you think you have been talking to and it can be quite frightening.
Never give out anything revealing about yourself such as your phone number, address, where you work, who your friends/family are, your age, birthday, picture... those are all the tools a stalker needs to use to find you.
Don't add people to your friendslist that you do not know and if you do know them make sure that it IS actually them. It has been known that people WILL clone accounts of others just to start trouble so they can get in their lulz.
Never give anyone your email address or password as that is a hackers tool right there if they can pass the security questions in fact I would advise you to never answer the security questions truthfully! Pick two words that you will ALWAYS remember and use those as your answers that way they can guess and guess and they will most likely never get into your accounts for example:
What is your Mothers maiden name? Frog
Who was your first grade teacher? Apple
If you have children monitor what they do and teach them how to be safe on the internet there are blocks on your browser and PC yourself that you can activate. I know that AOL has a program that not only just works for AOL but other browsers as well and it is free so use it. (You can find the link on the menu to the right under links.)
If you feel uncomfortable by someone don't sit there and take it if you have an option to block someone then use it don't punish yourself for something that you can control.
There could be a day when you just happen to set someone off and they end up on your doorstep, leave a threatening note, throw a bag of bait-fish in your back yard and cause unnecessary property damage all because they could not handle the heat of a 'game' that they started.
Or you could be the very troll behind the keyboard that victimizes someone so brutally that they attempt or actually do take their own life. Is that really something that you would wish to live with? Who wants to be that person?
If you decide to meet someone from the internet make sure it is in a public place and ALWAYS bring a friend. Sometimes the people that you're meeting are NOT the people that you think you have been talking to and it can be quite frightening.
Never give out anything revealing about yourself such as your phone number, address, where you work, who your friends/family are, your age, birthday, picture... those are all the tools a stalker needs to use to find you.
Don't add people to your friendslist that you do not know and if you do know them make sure that it IS actually them. It has been known that people WILL clone accounts of others just to start trouble so they can get in their lulz.
Never give anyone your email address or password as that is a hackers tool right there if they can pass the security questions in fact I would advise you to never answer the security questions truthfully! Pick two words that you will ALWAYS remember and use those as your answers that way they can guess and guess and they will most likely never get into your accounts for example:
What is your Mothers maiden name? Frog
Who was your first grade teacher? Apple
If you have children monitor what they do and teach them how to be safe on the internet there are blocks on your browser and PC yourself that you can activate. I know that AOL has a program that not only just works for AOL but other browsers as well and it is free so use it. (You can find the link on the menu to the right under links.)
If you feel uncomfortable by someone don't sit there and take it if you have an option to block someone then use it don't punish yourself for something that you can control.
