We now know how important social media can be and how much it plays a part in our daily everyday lives. Now considering how important social media can be, we need to start questioning what we put online in a public arena where just about anyone from anywhere can view the content you upload, comment, update, or ‘like’.
Would you be okay with your boss, friends, or family seeing what you post online? Personally I'm not particularly a big fan of my mum seeing photos of me passed out on the floor with Picasso drawings of male genitalia by permanent markers on my face, but hey, maybe that’s just me.
So how safe are we, exactly, from accidentally exposing ourselves to unwanted attention from our loved ones? What are some ways to help lowering the risks of exposure?
There are some pretty simple but effective ways to protect yourself from leaking those inner darkest photos onto the news feed of someone you don’t want to see; like your mum.
- You can always block. Is probably the most effective way of nullifying exactly who you don’t want to see these photos. The down side is of course is now you've just unfriended your mother and will probably be frowned upon when you return home.
- Play around with custom settings. This allows you to block selective people from being able to view different aspects of your profile. For instance you can block all those inappropriate bursts of joy when you’re updating your status about how amazing your day is sitting in the sun reading your book by the beach when you've actually called in sick.
- Beware of what you ‘like’ on Facebook what may be hilarious to you personally one day may not appear to be so in the eyes of another.
- Have your profile settings on private so that it on mobile aps like Instagram, your photos wont appear on the public photo feed and also allowing more control over who is ‘following’ you and viewing your photos.
These easy steps are so simple, yet so many of us neglect the use of these features, whether it be because you simple don’t know about it or you’re not fazed by the idea of having your personal life out there for the world to see.
Coming back now with relevance to digital marketing, why should we care? How does your personal online presence affect work?
Drawing upon an issue earlier this semester, with the case of Charlotte Dawson being told to go hang herself, on twitter by a 'twitter troll', we see this to be a growing concern for many. As stories of cyber bullying continue, we see a growing concern for what and how you present yourself online. You have to be very careful of the content that you make known to the public, because sometimes all it takes is one awkward photo, one misunderstood 'like', one joke taken too far, and it could change everything. Now, even though Charlotte Dawson may have taken it a bit far by tracking her twitter troll down and physically calling her place of work, getting her suspended from work, and exposing everything to the public; it further shows that it can be done. People can find out about you and piece together little by little who you are and what you do. Facebook argue that all they information you put up, you put up willingly and you are volunteering your information on their website. That's why privacy settings are just so important, its not just about hiding embarrassing photos of the weekend, but in meaning to help you realise that what you do and say online can not only affect you, but can impact on even your place of work and what you represent. Using one of the biggest scandals this year, as an example, was the much publicised leaked naked photographs of Prince Harry; which was made possible through... yes, you guessed it, social media streams. So I don't think the Queen would have been too happy about that.
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