Recently the online world has celebrated the so-called Safer Internet Day. Well, I can tell you this right now, that day will not come if we continue to do some pretty stupid things online.
While there are nifty features out there such as the location pinning “check-in” tool, these must be used with caution.
Sure, saying that you are dining at The Ivy right now will probably make you sound fancy, but do you really need the online world to know your exact location?
The trick is to tweet about this the next day, or in a few hours – saying that you have been there, done that, you are not there anymore – your location should not be known to anyone except for a trusted few.
Another obvious no-go is sending your pictures to accounts with awkward sounding usernames, no matter how “sweet” or “intelligent” they seem to be when chatting to you. You know the ones I am talking about, those that you wouldn’t like to call yourself.
Why might this be a not so grand idea? Probably because you might find your head cropped out and pasted in an explicit image or used otherwise. Have a moment, let those cryptic thoughts out.
Before online dating, there was love letter writing or of course newspaper columns aka “Single, searching for the perfect knight in shining armour”. You might remember cautioning your friends, or indeed yourself being given advice not to go to meet that person. Alone, at least.
With the coming of online dating, there is always going to be a weirdo here and there inviting you to meet up, even if you are not registered to any match-making sites.
According to recent stats, 7.8m Brits have signed up to one dating site or another. You get it, the trend is huge. But it is simply common sense not to rush for a meeting with the first person that clicks “Like” on your image.
The World Wide Web is actually a part of our life in one way or another. You’re careful while swimming in the ocean or surfing, right? So be careful when surfing the web too. There might sharp-toothed sharks out there, albeit virtual, their bites will have dire consequences.