Tips to control and protect one’s image on social networks
Social media is dominant force in our daily lives these days, therefore we are increasingly exposed to invasions of privacy. However, there are steps that users can take in order to control and protect their identities online and to safeguard their images on social networks.
How to Go About Protecting a Social Profile
Every social media site is required to give users overall control and access to their privacy settings, and this should be the first port of call for anyone who wishes to protect their image online. Sites offer a wide range of possibilities, meaning users can choose exactly who can view their profile, for example, Facebook allows users to select “Friends Only” for all posts to ensure nobody outside of the user’s approved friend’s list can see anything on their profile.
Sites like LinkedIn are great for networking and job searches, but users should be wary of how much information they give away. Professional recruiters are bound to go through a candidate’s data so that they can build fuller picture of a candidate’s suitability.
Some tips to control and protect one’s image
- Be careful about what you are posting on social network
- Don’t publish compromising photos of yourself
- Don’t publish any photos of your children until they are in age of deciding themselves what is convenient for them to go public
- Take time to put all private information that you feel necessary to divulge into your profile page
- Keep a regularly survey, by taping your name in the search windows for collecting eventual items that was published about you without you to be informed
- Reacting immediately if you find something negative against you and asking for deleting it
- Ask Google to delete any bad indexed page that could be compromising for you
On social media, less is always more. Tempting as it may be to share the nitty gritty, it is prudent for users to veer on the side of discretion to control and protect their identity online. Remember, a digital footprint is not so easily deleted, compromising photos and political views could come back to haunt a user. Sharing on social media shouldn’t mean oversharing and users should always regularly check their privacy settings and review any changes to a site’s privacy policy.
This way everyone can enjoy the social context but still control and protect who has access to their online image and data.