Leave personal details off your Facebook page.
Does the whole world—or even your private circle, many of whom you haven’t seen in person for years, or even at all—have to know you’re laid up from hernia surgery (i.e., vulnerable, defenseless)?
Try this experiment for a week: Assume that the only visitors to your Facebook are 1) future possible employers, 2) master gossip spreaders and reputation bashers, and 3) your future in-laws (if you’re not married). This should really change the game plan of how you post.
Never send naked photos of yourself.
Not even to your significant other. After all, in many cases of leaked nude images…the significant other is the leaker! If your lovey-dove wants to see you in your birthday suit, then present yourself that way in person—after you know for sure all the cameras in the room are turned off.
Enough with the selfies.
It’s gotten to a point where all selfies look alike: Some doofus holding up the phone and staring INTO the phone. Whatever happened to the nice images of yesteryear, where someone, posing nicely, was facing the viewer? Selfies are fine if you’re showing off your abs when the selfie next to it of 90 days ago shows the Pillsbury Dough Boy, but please, nobody is special enough to justify endless selfies, including those for which you corralled a bunch of people to take part in it.
Instagram is not for food images.
Don’t waste your time. Think “borrrrrring!” Who really wants to see your beet salad? If you want to promote your recipe skills, start a website.
“Like” only recent posts.
Nobody pays attention to likes on old posts.
Cross out cross-posting.
Post an item on your Snapchat story, then put it in a private message…NOT.
No ODRs, no oversnapping.
Avoid opening but not replying on Snapchat. Avoid double-snapping someone.
Say no to screengrabbing.
Read that again. Don’t grab a Snapchat unless you want the sender to know who did it.
For parents…
Be mindful of commenting on your teenagers’ pages. Be sincere if you must, like a congratulations for qualifying for the state wrestling finals.
Robert Siciliano CEO of IDTheftSecurity.com, personal security and identity theft expert and speaker is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Identity Was Stolen. See him knock’em dead in this identity theft prevention video.