Avoiding the Tripwires of Social Media...

While on vacation I have had the opportunity to have my Twitter account (personal) hacked by some marketing guy in Austria. Now, this in and of itself is not a rare thing. People are hacked every day on social networking and social media websites. It just goes to show that simple precautions must be taken so as to minimize any potential damage that could be done to you by such a hacker. Follow the tips below and you'll be far better off in this brave new online world:


1. Keep personal and business accounts separate.

2. Develop passwords that are very difficult for someone to figure out (the longer the better.

3. Check your accounts at least every other day and look at the posts...if you see that you have things on there that you didn't post be sure to eliminate them ASAP and change your password.

4. Don't be afraid to "delete" your account in the case of repeat hacks.

5. You might not want to put an image of yourself as the avatar on your account (esp. Twitter) for if you get hacket they not only have your username to send messages from but it's immediately then linked to you if they have control of your image.

6. Don't "follow" or "friend" just anybody on Twitter or Facebook...be selective of who you let in your "network."

7. Give out as little personal information as possible. Don't put birthdays, addresses, phone numbers, children's names, spouse's names, etc. on there. Keep the posts general, informative, and interesting, but NOT PERSONAL!

8. Watch out for your friends on these networks and have them watch out for you. (I was alerted to my hack by my business partner calling me and asking if I was at my computer because someone was sending out information under my name)

9. Use a password manager for your login information whenever possible so that people cannot log your keystrokes. (not ultimately effective, but better than nothing)

Ok, hopefully these ideas will give you a bit more of a sense of peace when Tweeting, Linking-in, or Facebooking....