Nice to see The Sunday Life Show at the weekend giving a balanced view on social networking. Too often the dramatic music starts up and shadowy figures can be seen huddled ove computer keyboards giving the illusion that most of us are up to no good on the web after the sun goes down.
In this feature they did interview some guy who’d had a fake page put up about him saying all kinds of nonsense and that can happen. Apparently it happened to Alastair Darling too, although at the moment I’m sure he has little time to be writing on anyone else’s wall as he tries to figure out what to do with the omens the credit crunch has written on his!
I was very impressed with the guy from http://www.getsafeonline.org – didn’t catch his name – but thought he gave an upbeat and realistic assessment of the situation.
11m folks engage in social networking in the UK and it’s a fantastic medium for contacting people and keeping in touch. But there is a darker side which users have to be aware of. It just needs some common sense. “Be careful not to share information with people that you wouldn’t share at a bus stop!”
According to their figures 25% of us share confidential information like telephone numbers, email addresses etc. 15% have not secured it so only trusted “friends” can view their details.
Social networking sites do much to ensure safety and privacy but there’ll always be ways some shady characters will find to exploit them.
As digital people, with a better understanding of how it all works, we should be doing out bit to ensure our friends and family are made aware of how to be more secure online. Users themselves also have to spend a bit of time educating themselves too.
If we don’t want a nanny state then we all have to take responsibility to get safe!
