Each day one of the first questions that we get asked is “what can I do to protect myself and my identity while online?” First and foremost we tell everyone to be cautious what you put on the web. The web never forgets. You can do searches and find things online from the original inception of the internet. Our company has even found things that were posted in the early ’90’s still out there indexed for people to find. The internet never forgets.

However, with the outgrowth of social media and information indexes growing by leaps and bounds each day we are finding more and more information that is being saved and able to be indexed right now or even years later. Something you say in a forum today will be able to be searched and researched by our children in the future. Add to that the instant update always connected to the net people who use social media for whatever reason who post things that are potentially dangerous to themselves. More likely than not, they didn’t even think it was posting something that could be dangerous. Every day we read horror stories of how someone’s house was robbed while they were away on vacation, all because they “tweeted” or status updated that they were out of town. There is even a whole website dedicated to spreading how dangerous this can be. (See the site Please Rob Me).

Every day there are people who are online or see what you are doing and can be vicious if they want to be. Does this mean that we need to stop all social media? No, it doesn’t. As a company we have a blog (see what you are reading right now) and we have a twitter account and a facebook. However, we take precautions to make sure that we don’t post something that could be dangerous to us or our clients. We use common sense when posting. Do we say we are visiting somewhere, sometimes, but we don’t post things like how long we will be gone. We also don’t post public things about our children on the internet.

The key is just to be cautious. You can use Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, Etc…but just remember that the internet never forgets and if someone sees it, they could be out to do something malicious, mean, hurtful, or even downright illegal. Protect yourself, your property, and your identity. If you have any questions and aren’t sure what is safe to post, just ask. We’ll gladly be there to help you figure out what is too much or too revealing. Good luck and be safe out there.