Net gain: making the most of social networking sites
Facebook, Friends Reunited and LinkedIn are all examples of ‘social networking’ sites. They’re a great way to chat with friends, family and colleagues or meet people with similar interests.
The down side is that your personal details could be seen by anyone, so it’s important to remember these points of cyber-safety:
- Restrict access to your profile page to people you know and trust: this reduces the risk of identity theft or stalking.
- It could be easier than you think for prospective employers to see your profile, however well protected it is. Many employers do look at these sites, so make sure you are happy that your content is suitable for your family, employers and casual acquaintances to see.
- Be as careful when you chat online about your studies, work, personal life or social events as you would when talking to a stranger. Your posts on newsgroups and online communities may be in the public domain in archives where they can be found years later.
- Only make comments about a named individual that would be acceptable face to face. Laws on bullying, stalking and defamation all apply online and the penalties can be severe.
- Your photographs can be viewed, searched or copied unless you protect them. If you don’t protect them straight away, copies may be held in archives indefinitely.
- If you display photographs of other people, only add their names if they’ve given you their permission – they may not want their image to be easy to find.
- Copyright laws apply online. If you use content that you didn’t create yourself, remember to get permission.
- Take care when discussing details of your whereabouts - you may wish to keep private where you are planning to go and when you will not be at home.
- Use a different password from the one you use at the University or for online banking.
- If you use a site which asks you to choose an alias, you can maintain your privacy by making sure that it isn’t associated with your real name or University email address.