As you talk to your kids about social networks, you can give them the following guidelines to help them stay safe:
Keep your posts private. On most social networking sites, you
can choose to only share things with your friends. It's important
to always use this setting when possible, as it makes it harder
for people you don't know to gain access to your information
Check all of your privacy settings frequently. ******** sometimes
reorganizes their privacy and account settings, which can cause your
information to be shared with more people than you want. With
******** or any other social networking site, you should review
your privacy settings to make sure that they are set the way you want
Be careful what you share. Even if you are keeping your posts
private, it doesn't guarantee that other people won't be able to see
it. For example, if you share a photo with your friends, they can easily
save it to their computer and post it to another website. You shouldn't
post something online unless you're comfortable with everyone in the world seeing it
Don't add strangers to your friends list. Although it
may be tempting to have thousands of online "friends", this
increases the chances that your photos and personal information
will be shared with the world
Keep in mind that things you post online may stay there for years. Even if
something doesn't seem embarrassing, it may damage your reputation years later
when you're looking for a job or applying to college. Employers and colleges often
check social networking sites for information on candidates, so a photo or other
post could lower their impression of you
Use good netiquette. "Netiquette" is basically a set of guidelines for
communicating online. Using good netiquette helps to ensure that the
things you say aren't misinterpreted
OnGuardOnline.gov has created the following video to show the importance
of sharing with care. You may want to watch it along with your kids or teens.
