Be Smart on the Internet!

Most people these days do not understand the true power of the internet. This is becoming more apparent with the proliferation of Facebook. We all need to understand this one statement: whatever goes on the internet, stays on the internet… FOREVER! It will be there till the end of time. Every photo, every status update, every Tweet, every video, every rant, every complaint is stored in servers and will never ever be erased. Did you accidently upload a photo of you drunk at a party? Well you can go ahead and delete it off of Facebook but guess what, its still on their servers.

The moment you upload anything, you are making it public record. That’s right. The second that piece of media hits the internet, it is no longer yours and is viewable by the world. And just because you delete the picture today, doesn’t mean I can’t find a logged version of your profile from a couple of days ago and recover that picture.

Recently, there has been a fad on Facebook for women to post where they keep their purses at home. But they simply state “I like it on the kitchen table” instead of “I like to keep my purse on the kitchen table”. They believe its cute and funny to see their male friends all confused and having crazy images in their heads. What these women don’t seem to realize is that, you just told the entire world where you keep your purse. The millions of thieves who troll Facebook thank you. Now they know exactly where you keep your valuables instead of ransacking the house.

When you upload a status bashing your manager at work or your professor on campus, it isn’t private. Your boss can see how you really feel about him. This is why business have been viewing your profile when you apply for a job. The “real” you is represented there. Not the sanitized version you present to them. They are able to see every hateful comment you made about your ex or every drunken tirade you made. You don’t have privacy on the internet.

I bet you didn’t know this fact. Your phone number is now public on Facebook. Yup its true. You can change it via the privacy settings in your profile, but until then, we can all see it. Wouldn’t you just love for the creepy guy in your class to have your cell number? I didn’t think so. But the fact that you uploaded your number in the first place, shows your lack of education regarding privacy.

The internet has proven the power of the masses. If someone wants to find out where you live, they can go into the code of the photo you just uploaded, find the IP address of the computer you used to upload it or if you have a smartphone the GPS coordinates of where the picture was taken, find the city you live in, use your last name to find out where you live and guess what, the stalker on the internet now knows where you live, where you go to school, who you live with and where you work, all because you didn’t take precautions with your privacy when you uploaded that photo. And I didn’t make up the above scenario. I’ve seen it happen and lives are ruined because of it.

Be smart fellow readers. Always check the privacy of any online site you go to and always make sure that what you post online, is ok for the rest of the world to know.