Facebook, twitter and other social platforms are incredible tools to manage our social contacts and keep us involved and in touch with our friends, family and the social causes we care for, it can help extent your support to causes, involve in discussions and extend help and make a difference regardless of the constrains of political boundaries, and distances. It can also help you promote your self, your commercial services or help you vent out your thoughts and concerns.
It all seems fun , and game for some who are still no familiar to this whole whole new world of the new generation internet, but infect it is a serious business specially if you are a women and worst if you are even somewhat popular or known.
A few days back a friend of mine, who is a TV celebrity joint one of the social joint facebook, and since she was new in the game, she thought she could add all of her fans to the page. this is when the trouble started, first there was obscene martial posted on her profile, ( which actually is a seriously punishable crime if taken to the courts ) and later a number of her fake accounts started to appear on the web-sphere. another TV celebrity i know too faced the same sort of issues, her fake Ids tried to fool people she knew into adding her. I have known some cases where their pictures were taken off from their personal accounts and were published under with offensive remarks.
but the victims are not just TV celebrities. a number of groups take pictures of girls from several websites and post them on their own sites with obscene stories , remarks and content.
so how to avoid being a victim of such crime ? now if you are thinking it is best to stay off the internet that too would be a bad idea, because today in this age of technology getting a picture of yours would not be a problem. even someone at a restaurant may be clicking at you completely unnoticed to later put your images somewhere out there.
so the best way to survive and avoid being a victim is to first be active on the internet, know your territory well and include only the people you trust into your network. Keep the your photos locked and visible only to the people you know, who are on your friend list. keep the photos coming, don’t hold your photos from appearing on your profile but make sure the images you put there are publicly displayable, avoid putting up any privet photos on your profiles. Have plenty of pictures so people know who you are, and if someone missuses them they can come and report the issue to you and you can then at least announce it on your profile that your photo is being miss used.
most impotently never give out teh location of your house, your workplace on the internet or on your profile. always make sure you know people you included in your friend circle, confirm them via email or if he/she has a common friends ask those friends if they really know this person before adding them too your profile.
Don’t talk to strangers, don’t entertain them don’t let them walk into your house, that is what we were taught when we were kids, the same rules apply to your life on the internet. verify every person, his/her organization, her/his creditability, before you add them to your friends. Your profile is your space, if anyone is being rude to you don’t think twice, just click the remove button and keep him off your grounds.
Running away or quitting a social network and staying away from the internet will only keep the criminals active only you wouldn’t know of it, but if you are there on the ground you can fight and counter their attacks and stay in safe waters.
in short just don’t quit, face them and fight, and remember they really don’t stand much of a chance unless you give them one.
