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Thursday, April 7, 2011

~Are You Checking In?~

As technology continues to grow so does the many ways we communicate with our friends and family. It almost seems like privacy is a thing of the past. With Websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace we are now giving a play by play of our lives in real-time. But, did we ever stop and think that not JUST our friends and family are reading our status updates?

Sure there are all kinds of privacy settings now but personally, I don't trust that. I can think of a bunch of ways that people can get through those settings. For example, I play Facebook games. A lot of my friends and family do too but sometimes that's just not enough. Sometimes I just need one more friend to unlock the next level. So what do I do? I go to there fan site and post that I am looking for friends to play the game with. I can usually get a new friend within the matter of seconds...because let's face it ....everyone is looking for new friends.

The problem is...I don't know this person. AT ALL! Now I have a "friend" on my Facebook that can now view all my personal pictures, everything that I have written about my personal life, and the thing that scares me the most....check ins.

Checking in to Facebook and other sites is fairly new. I guess talking and tweeting about being somewhere wasn't enough. Now we can check in to places. At the Rebecca Black concert? Just whip out your mobile phone with GPS capabilities and check in with Facebook. There, now everyone on your friends list knows EXACTLY where you are. Remember that person I added a couple of seconds ago? Well now that person knows where I am too. And...where I am NOT. Where I am NOT is home.

Well it just so happens that I checked in at home a couple hours ago so the location of my home is sitting there on my Facebook page as well.  And just my luck...this new person I added is a robber. I think you know where this is heading.

Luckily, I don't really add strangers to my "personal" Facebook page. I have other Facebook accounts with different aliases for my games. But, I know that about 95% of the game friends I add use their personal account.

I believe that a good rule of thumb with any social networking site is ... If you wouldn't want the whole world knowing what you are writing or where you are, DO NOT over use the check in features! I don't care how many "privacy" settings there are...I am not going to put my personal life in some strangers hands and hope that they don't let it fall into the wrong hands. Especially when these "hands" are imaginary..they are in cyber space..how trustworthy can "nothing" be?

~Cautious SAHM

3 comments:

Nan ~ Playful Decor said...

Hi! coming from UBP twitter. I'll keep your blog handy - I need to learn tech stuff! Nice to meet you!

Sydney said...

AMEN! Some people are just a little too addicted to Facebook, Twitter, etc. I think it's scary! People need to be more aware of what they share, becuase the Internet is not always a super safe place! I think there a lot of people who could really benfit from reading this post! Thanks for writing it!

KY Klips said...

I totally agree. I have blocked all check-ins on my personal account. I was at a party recently where a family member was quite surprised that they could not check me in. They were able to check-in my husband (his is fixed now) and several people from our hometown inquired about of weekend away from home from the Facebook post (Yikes!!)
I'm now following you via GFC from the Alexa Hop. I hope you will stop by my blog and do the same. Also, I'm looking forward to hearing more about your blog carnival. It will be my first and I hope I am able to participate.
Janet @ KY Klips Blog