Beware of sharing too much

Gregg Brewer has a good reminder on the Agnesian HealthCare blog:

The very nature of social media 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 using social media 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
• they tailor the information for their friends to read, forgetting that others may see it.

The major drawback to social networking is that some users are simply sharing too much information. People can lose their jobs or a friendship over leaking information on social networks. Even if a user of a social site has her privacy settings on the highest level, their information can still be passed on by someone on their friends list. It doesn’t take much for an angry follower to copy and paste a status or download a picture if they are looking for revenge.

For parents, kids need to understand that if they reveal too much about their personal lives, it could lead to problems—like susceptibility to cyber bullies, online predators, invasion of privacy, and identity theft. These problems are not due to social networking, as they have been around since the advent of email and chat. But with social networking, the volume of content has grown and become much more personal and is easily seen by anyone. Set some limits and make a few rules for your children with regard to their online behavior, especially on social networking sites.” Get the rest here: Beware of sharing too much | In Good Health.