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Social Media
Do you know ALL of your online followers?
Do you know who has access to ALL your personal details
Do you know if your account settings are all on private?
Below is an overview of the most commonly used apps.
Instagram has become one of the biggest social networking apps used across the world, with 1 billion people using Instagram each month. Pictures and videos are posted within seconds, but do we stop for a second and think who may be able to view these pictures and videos? It can be easy to continue to use social media without thinking about safety or privacy. This article is here to help and encourage users to switch on their privacy settings and have control over who can view your information and posts.
Do you ever post a picture and hope to get lots of ‘likes’? or hope to have lots of followers, you’re not alone in feeling like this however it can become unhealthy to constantly worry about how many ‘likes’ we receive and may even feel like a competition at times with others; the more likes and followers you have the more popular you are- but can you really say you know and trust ALL your followers or feel completely safe?
When you post a picture on Instagram they then ‘own’ this picture and can do with it what they wish- sounds quite final right? This is why you should always be aware and think twice about what you are posting. Is the picture you are posting a picture that you would happily send to your parents/grandparents?
Facebook is another popular social networking site used globally. Although the world of Instagram and Snapchat seemed to have taken over a little! Facebook is still used by many and anyone can get access to your personal information on Facebook also. As well as photos Facebook also has a section called ‘About’ which has personal information about you, you may have even added your location, phone number or email address in this section. If your settings are not private ANYONE can access this information and you wouldn’t want strangers to know where you live or what your mobile number is right?!
Snapchat
Snapchat is also a popular messaging app used globally and especially popular with younger generations. As you probably know you can send pictures and videos to friends, which vanish after they’ve been viewed; however, this can be changed so that they vanish after 24 hours. Snapchat asks for your permission to access your address book but also suggest adding mutual friends. People you do not know can contact you and see your location, not only friends of friends but EVERYONE can see your contacts and location.
YouTube
YouTube is a social platform where you can follow vloggers who help you to learn new hobbies such as baking, creating arts, crafts or music and so much more. Learning isn’t a negative, however, following vloggers or the desire to be a vlogger can create some issues.
Watching videos on YouTube can become addictive, you may spend hours watching them until the early hours of the morning and time runs away with you. The lack of sleep you get may affect you mentally and physically, you may feel a lack of energy, feel demotivated and have a lack of alertness. Perhaps try and find something relaxing to do before bed such as reading a book or journalling.
Creating your own channel can also be positive. There may be something you feel passionately about and wish to share it with the world – but again, it can come with some problems. It may become a central point to what you do, meaning you neglect other things and other people in your life. You may become obsessed with the number of followers or subscribers you have and if this is low this may affect your mental wellbeing in a negative way.
Privacy Settings
Protecting yourself and your personal information online is important. Having a public profile means anyone can see what you’re doing online. Have you checked your privacy settings recently?
The privacy settings on Instagram are simple- Under Account, you will have the option to make your profile private- swipe the little button across so it is BLUE and all that is shared will be private. ANYONE will be able to see what you post along with your personal details if you do not have a private account.
Snapchat
Make sure only friends can see your location and contact you- if it is on ‘Everyone’ change this by clicking on Settings and changing the options to ‘My friends’. We encourage you to only add people you know as adding strangers can put you at great risk as your location can be tracked down.
Under Privacy settings and tools and ‘who can see my future posts’ choose the option ‘Friends’ this is the best option to ensure that your personal information is not accessible to everyone.