Facebook+&+Twitter

Social networking is, well, social. The supposed premise behind social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Linked-In is that folks share information openly and participate in a community. Just as physical communities are at risk from intruders and miscreants, so are cyber-communities. AND if you want to know how to block social networking sites from use by the denizens of your dwelling, be sure to read this page in its entirety.

Get this: In the USA, senior citizens are the fastest growing demographic of users of social media technology!

 __Think twice before you share__  Even in a physical community you are likely to maintain certain boundaries. You don't post deeply personal information about yourself on your front lawn. You don't share certain opinions about neighbors with the rest of the community. The same applies to social networking. Be selective about what you post. On the Internet, whatever you post is likely to stay posted--somewhere--for a very, very, very long time--and is likely to haunt you and reappear when you're, say running for public office or looking to land a high-profile job in education.

 __How visible are your posts__  You've decided to declare to your Facebook friends how much of a jerk your boss is. You've checked and double-checked that only your real friends are your Facebook friends and you trust them without question. Your boss is not on your network, so off you go, writing your rant about your boss. You post it. Little did you know that you're not out of the woods yet. Your boss cannot see your post directly, BUT if a Facebook friend of yours who is connected with your boss makes a comment about your post, your boss may be able to click on the friend's link to the comment and see...your...post. Here's one simple rule: Post only what you wouldn't mind your grandma and your employer (current or future) seeing.

 __Think about what allows social networks remain "free"__  Have you ever wondered how it is that you and your buddies can remain in touch with a flash and cool and seemingly free interface? Who pays for "free"? Most social networking sites have some form of advertising. If you're on Facebook, you can customize the types of information that comes from third parties. At the same time, there's no way to opt out of Facebook ads completely. Aha! Facebook states, "Facebook strives to create relevant and interesting advertisements to you and your friends."

 __Games: //Caveat utilitor//__  One of the draws of social networking sites is the dizzying array of games available for you to play with your friends. Uh-huh. You learn more about them and they learn more about you through the games. The social networking site and their third party vendors also learn more about all of you. The games' permissions page lets you know up front that the games require access to your profile information and photos in...order...to...work. Hmmm. Board game Monopoly, anyone?

 __Use the privacy controls at your disposal__  Need I say more?

 __Phishing__  Phising a scammer's attempt to collect passwords, logins, credit card data, spending habits and the like by posing as a legitimate entity. Phishers enter a social network, re-establish old contacts and make new contacts and use this warm and fuzzy environment to launch phishing attacks. They gain access to an account and hijack it. They change the passwords so the legitimate owner can't get back in. They send a sob story message to the victims friends and family. They extort money! How can you protect yourself from this? Consider that sometimes old tech is the best tech. Pick up the phone and call the "friend" or "relative" who allegedly sent you the distress message.

 __Dangers of handy URL shortening services__  Some URLs are a mile long and don't work well in postings. Twitter, for example, has a 140-character limit and uses a URL shortening service like Bit.ly. Scammers have thought to exploit that too. The shortened URL contains a random collection of characters that represent the original URL. Hence, users can't easily determine whether the link is the real McCoy.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;"> **What to do?** Twitter's TweetDeck application for sending messages in Twitter provides a show--preview--information pane for the shortened URL's option. The preview window shows the actual long URL that the link leads to. If you aren't using TweetDeck and you need to work with shortened URLs, be skeptical and vigilant about any shortened URLs that come your way.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;"> Click here for 7 things to do on Facebook (or 7 things not to do on Facebook)

__**<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">K9 Web Protection **__ <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">This service is free for personal use. Install the program on your computers and you'll be able to block access to social networking sites after a certain time. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 130%;">[]