It’s the kind of evening I’d normally spend in the office over a snack and some conversation, but a power outage sent us home early. Feeling restless, I wandered into a Café Coffee Day for an espresso. At the next table, a group of teens were deep in conversation about Facebook, Orkut, and the rest. It’s striking how fast this social-networking culture is spreading among students and professionals alike. No wonder the likes of Facebook, Twitter, Orkut, and MySpace are making millions off our time - all they ask for is a sign-up, half an hour (or more) of daily login, a few clicks, and some chit-chat, and in return they earn a fortune from the hours we happily pour in.
At conferences and seminars, a few questions reliably grab the spotlight, precisely because they touch the everyday user:
- Is social networking safe?
- What about the security side of it?
- What should you do - and not do?
- The pros and cons?
- Any advice for young social networkers?
Social networking is undeniably important in an age where technology is stitching cultures and countries together. I’m part of that world too - it’s a great medium to connect, learn, and share. But how much you share, and how much you expose, is a personal choice. And then there’s the small matter of plain carelessness. There’s a steady stream of headlines about people falling victim to social-networking mishaps: an employee fired for oversharing, evictions or convictions over objectionable posts, even impersonation “for fun.” Never forget that at the heart of all these technologies sits the human common-sense factor. Tools evolve and multiply endlessly, but we - the thinking species - get to decide how to use them without landing in trouble. As the saying goes:
Communicate like the whole world is watching, because some day it very well might be.
It’s good to have friends and social circles - just make sure you actually know someone, or share mutual friends, before accepting a request. Plenty of cases involve obscene content (text or images) being shared, people getting tangled up with the “wrong” person, or outright fraud. Sign up for the sites, but don’t hand over so much that you become an open book for social engineering - or a case study in someone’s guidelines document. Be careful with links from friends, too: they can look harmless and still be malicious. And keep backups - save your system configuration, set restore points, keep separate copies - so when things go sideways you can switch off and roll back to a known-good state.
One thing I always stress: keep your curiosity and carelessness within sensible bounds. Be responsible, and act responsibly. Any link can install malware or hand your system to someone else if you don’t have the basics in place: antivirus, a firewall, and common sense. The irony is that some websites don’t even realise they’ve been hijacked and are serving malicious code themselves. I won’t name which vendor offers the best protection - but you certainly have the best sense of how to protect your own interests. Over the years, social networks have become the easiest way to lure victims at scale and get them clicking and spreading malicious content. Keep a gap between being friendly and exposing your privacy, and avoid any financial discussion or backups on social platforms - even in “private” mode.
There are a million baits dangling on these sites. Try not to be tempted by a low-hanging one - it may just be the forbidden fruit of the social garden.
A few more things worth keeping in mind:
- If your company or IT team has blocked a site, don’t get clever and try to bypass it. It might feel good to brag about, but trust me, it isn’t worth the price you could end up paying.
- Read the terms and conditions of third-party apps on social networks before granting them access to your profile. They may be mining your private information to market their product. These apps and games can be tempting and addictive - be smart, and lock down your privacy.
- Check whether the vendor has verified the app. You can always ask about the trust-and-verification status of any application, and whether it’s been tested so it won’t leak your information.
All in all, social networking has plenty of upsides - the downside comes almost entirely from human carelessness, which is the hardest thing of all to patch. So stay safe, because to someone out there you’re a trustworthy friend who might click anything you forward.
Cheers - and it’s time to go home.