With great power comes great responsibility – this expression may have had too many references but once again, with social media, its sentiments resonate.
Social media has become one of the main forms of communication, both socially and professionally. And although many positives come with the development of new means of digital communication and innovation, there are also risks involved.
Like any personal or professional space that requires protection, your social media platforms also need to remain a safe zone. We all share different types of information, both personal and professional, but where does one draw the line?
Here are some basic rules that should be in your social media safety kit.
Five rules of thumb:
1. Create an official Organisational Social Media Policy and train your employees on proper online conduct. Clearly define who in the office has permission to communicate with the public via company social networking accounts. Create a guideline that will state what can and cannot be communicated about the organisation and its activities.
2. Think, think, think, then push the button. Most people do not understand the influence or the viral extension of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, to name a few. What you post can travel across the world and reach thousands, if not millions, of people within seconds. So, thinking and being sure of what you are posting is imperative. One tweet or status update can ultimately cost you your job, or even compromise your personal safety. Drunken posts are also a huge NO. You can never completely erase online blunders, as spectators are always quick to take screen shots of these mishaps and or share them with their online community.
3. Become acquainted with, and educate yourself about, each online platform’s privacy and security settings. Some social networking platforms such as Facebook allow each user a level of privacy per account. Users can customise and limit their timeline or profile accessibility to a specific group of friends to whom they are connected. You also have the options to make yourself unsearchable, restrict who can add you as a friend, approve all images you’ve been tagged in, and even sort your friends into groups.
4. Do not give out your personal information. Just as our parents told us not to speak to strangers, so the rule also applies to not giving them your personal details such as your home address, banking information, vehicle registration number and details about your family and children.
5. Passwords are gateways to your digital social space. It is important to maintain different passwords for your different social media accounts and, of course, other accounts such as banking and home security codes. There are people lurking on the net with bad intentions. Some are waiting for the opportunity for you to mention you leaving your home for a holiday so they may have the opportunity to break into your home, and some just want to clear out your banking account. However, this should not deter you from joining the social media sphere.
For instance, if you have set up your Twitter account to always tweet with your location or you are in the habit of checking into places, DO NOT check into your home via Foursquare, Facebook, location tweet, nor make this type of information public. The best option is to turn off location tweeting unless it is required. These settings are flexible and can be changed if and when needed. They just need us all to be diligent.