Are you a cyber-blabber? Even a post about your daily afternoon foray to the sub sandwich shop could get you in trouble: A burglar reading this knows when to rob your house. But it doesn’t end there. STOP THE MADNESS!
The Giants: Facebook and Twitter
- Be careful what you post on Facebook and tweet about. It can be used against you in court, even something as innocuous as: “I’m training for my very first 10K.” Not good if you’re suing someone who hit your car for back pain and suffering.
- Lawyers will take the time to scroll the Facebook timeline and your tweet history for evidence that can kill your case.
Reputation and Safety
- Seemingly harmless posts and tweets can indicate to burglars when it’s a good time to break into your house.
- Worse, posts and tweets can indicate to pedophiles when and where to lure your child into their car.
- Less malevolent, but potentially annoying though, are the data mining companies that piece together your tidbits to then design an ad campaign targeted towards you.
- Are your posts replete with language? This won’t look good to a potential employer. Nor will endless posts about how fatigued you always are.
- That image of your young child’s specially hand-crafted spanking paddle won’t go over well with the mother you were recently interviewed by for a nanny position.
I think you are starting to get it.
Obsessions
- Facebook and Twitter can certainly amplify a pre-existing whacked sense of priorities. An example is that of obsessively checking your friend’s page to see what new thing she’s bragging about, then getting worked up with anger that you can’t match this, such as a new sports car.
Solutions
- Set a timer out for, say, 30 minutes a day, and that’s your limit on Facebook and Twitter.
- Avoid social media for one week to kill your hunger for obsessing over a family member’s bigger house, fancier car and more prestigious job.
- Set your privacy settings on high.
Stop making inane posts about everything that happens to you. Nobody will go to bed in distress just because they didn’t read that you had an upset stomach after eating too much at BurgerVille.
