Social media is the most convenient way to stay connected with your friends and family over a long distance and meet new friends that could later become important people in your life. Most used by the youth, and nowadays, many minors, social media can lead to people sharing a lot of personal information that can result in threatening situations.
10 Alarming Signs You’re Oversharing on Social Media
1. Sharing Locations
Sharing locations could be done in various ways, such as uploading pictures right when you click them and are still in the location or going live. Although safe when done from home, it is not safe when done in public because your location can be easily seen. Sharing that you’re going on a trip or leaving for some work and mentioning where you are going and when you return is an invitation for criminals into your home, which they know now is empty and unguarded.
2. Sharing House Address
A common mistake made by a lot of people is sharing pictures near your residential area, so now everyone following you or on your list knows where you live. This puts you and your family members and neighbors in an unsafe position.
3. Venting On Social Media
Social media can be an outlet for people to vent out their feelings in the hope of connecting with others and sharing their experiences. As a result, anything that is now on the internet can never be erased. Many people have access to your personal feelings and even personal information that can later be used for illegal blackmailing.
4. Number Of Social Media Apps
Using many social media apps means a lot more platforms for you to share information about yourself. Keeping the number low will hence ensure more privacy and less sharing of personal data. It’s also best to keep your platforms as private as possible and not add strangers even if they have mutual friends. Unsubscribe from unwanted emails as well.
5. Using Work Device For Personal Needs
Work devices such as office or college laptops should only be kept for professional and official work. Especially during the pandemic and online classes, the login ids given by schools, colleges and universities should only be used to attend classes and submit assignments and not for any personal purposes. This would ensure that your company or institution does not have access to your browser history or very personal information.
6. Using the Same Password For Multiple Accounts
Keeping the same password for multiple accounts makes certain that even if just one of your accounts gets hacked, the hacker now has access to all your accounts. Keep a strong password with random letters, numbers, and special characters, and usage of some capital alphabets. To remember the password, write it in a diary instead of saving it on your devices.
7. Posting Frequently
Posting more than four times a day can lead to a genuine addiction to social media or even a mental disorder called Selfitis. There is no need to post that much information about your day. Instead, maintain a sense of privacy and distinguish your social and private life.
8. Sharing Pictures Of Children
The children are very young and haven’t consented to share their pictures all over the internet. It also acts as an invitation for potential pedophiles to become interested in your children, which would only lead them in harm’s way. It can also lead to illegal usage of these pictures. Share pictures of your family only to people you fully trust.
9. Sharing Intimate Details
Sharing details about your dating, marriage, or sex life leads to no sense of privacy with your significant other, which also causes problems and potential fights in your relationship. Couples also tend to share passwords as a means of “trust,” which, if not purposely, then accidentally can lead to the sharing of information that you didn’t want to share with the public.
10. Not Being Able To Remember Your Last Face To Face Conversation
Although social media made it easier to text people and have a virtual conversation, it’s still important to meet face-to-face to maintain relationships and not only to converse through social media. People will know about your private life, and it’s also not easy to get a sense of a person’s personality from their online persona. Especially with talking to someone new, it’s best to meet in real life.
In Conclusion…
At the end of the day, social media is amusing and convenient, but it’s best to keep your social life and private life separated for your own safety and good. A popular webtoon by the name of “#Killstagram” by Ryoung perfectly depicts how oversharing in social media can have disastrous outcomes.