Social media is the way by which we communicate, interact, get the latest information on trends, keep up with the latest news, even keep up with entertainment. There are various social media sites which we sign up for and they all offer sometimes similar but also slightly different services and ways by which they work. As the number of social media sites grow, the different kinds of scams also grow with them. No matter the social media site you use like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Buzzshare, Snapchat etc, you are not totally safe, so here are some tips to help you stay safe as you use any social media site.
1)Have a strong password
This is very important when you sign up on any social media site or even if you are already an existing user. Make sure your password is long as this makes its harder to crack. You should also make sure your password is not only long but contains a series of random numbers and symbols which would make it even harder for anyone to gain unauthorized access to your social media account.
2)Make sure you use a different password for each of your social media accounts
For ease of recollection, most people use the same password for each of their social media account. This is so they don’t have to keep a lot of information stored in their heads or if for any reason they get locked out of any of their accounts, it would be easy to sign back in. Well, this is not advisable. The reason is, once one of your social media accounts is compromised it is easy to get into all the other accounts. Since most of these social media sites are linked e.g. Facebook and Instagram, if anyone gains authorized access to your Facebook page, they are just one click away from accessing your Instagram page also.
3)Make sure your security questions and answers are set up.
For an added layer of protection, use the set-up feature of security questions and answers when you have to sign in into any of your social media accounts. This ensures that any breach on your accounts would be halted as they encounter this block. Now, when setting up these questions and answers, make sure you pick a very uncommon question and answer, so it isn’t easy to guess and gain access to your accounts.
4)Ensure your phone is password protected if you use social media apps on your phone
Instead of going through the desktop or mobile site of these social media sites, there is the convenient option of downloading the app on your open for ease of access. Now, most of us, sign into the app and we most often never sign out. The app is always open on our phones. If you belong to this group of people, make sure your phone or your device is password protected. Don’t just leave your phone on the swipe and open feature, use a password to ensure no one can access your device without your consent.
5)Be cautious about the links you click on
Social media is a link that connects us not only to the things that happen around us or the world, but it is a means by which we connect with friends also. Since we use this media to connect with friends, we might sometimes get links to join, buy, watch, different kinds of things of which some of them might be a way to hack into your account. So, no matter who sends you that link, as long as you are uncomfortable and don’t trust the source, don’t click it.
We have a lot of our information out there in the world through the use of social media. We can’t ignore its importance in our lives or its uses. The 5 tips above are just a way for us to stay safe. There are still some other tips which you can follow. They are; Always log off when you are through on a social media site. It is easier to keep the remember me feature on, but even with a personal device, log out completely from the site after use and log in with your username and password again if you have to use the site.
Make sure your install the best antivirus software to protect your device. You could unknowingly click, maybe an ad that introduces opens a pathway for a hack into your account, an antivirus ensures this software with malicious intent don’t gain access by prompting you when these sites or apps are unsecured.
Be as private as possible. Certain information about yourself such as, you home address, your phone number, financial information do not need to be on your social media account. Keep this information to yourself and do not share on your social media accounts. This information could easily be stolen along with your identity.
Because of how social media connects us, you can get friend requests from different people who live in different place all over the world. Now, care has to be taken to ensure you don’t accept a request from a fake account whose sole purpose is to gain access to your social media account and steal your information. So, make sure there is a good connection between you and this friend before accepting that request to connect on social media.
Every social media site has its own privacy policies. Make sure you familiarize yourself with them so as to set your privacy settings accordingly to control who sees what you post. This ensures that whatever you put out there on social media is seen by only the people whom you want to see it. The general public or just some random user will not be able to see any of your post or even find you on that site. This ensures your safety.
Make sure you follow some or all of this tips to keep you safe as you use social media