The Lurking Dangers of Social Networking Websites

Recently I have been spending more time on Facebook, and with my natural paranoia, contemplating the opportunities it provides for intrusion into one’s privacy. Blogger Michael Knight has also written about some of the possible problems arising and rather than rehash his excellent posts, I’d urge you all to pop over for a read.

One of the special problems of Social Networking sites is what your friends may reveal about you. What prompted my initial concern was a post a friend had written on Facebook that gave the name, address and photograph of an attractive female friend, together with the times she was at home! Now while this was done innocently enough to help her with her business, the privacy and security concerns of making this information available on the internet had not been considered.

So whether it be Facebook, MySpace, Bebo or Rucku or your own personal website, be very very careful what you post. Even information that gets posted on “invitees only” sections can be exposed relatively easily.

Think of the Internet as a telephone box, and think of your facebook/myspace/bebo/website as one of those cards offering “personal services”. Now, what would you want to say about yourself?

~ by @mmonyte on August 13, 2008.