Update: Thanks for your comments! This was something I had on my heart and wanted to share and discuss. Glad to have your input.
How careful are you about what you post on your blog? Have you blogged so long that you have become too comfortable?
To my knowledge, no one has suffered from a violent crime due to content they have posted on their blog. There have been cases of stalking and verbal abuse. Thus, I would like to share a few tips I have read and some of my own with you, my fellow bloggers, in an effort to remind all of us that we cannot be too careful.
1. Never post your full name or your home address.
2. Never use your spouse's full name.
3. If you choose to correspond with another blogger via email, do not assume they are who they say they are.
4. Carefully reconsider posting your children's pictures. This is hard. We love our kids and we love to share precious moments. Here's a tip- would you put that particular photo on a billboard on the interstate? The internet is just another type of highway. (Remember- more people are reading than are commenting.)
5. How much personal information do you share? Sports and church activities? Times and dates? Locations?
6. Consider past posts while writing your current posts. Have you given out information previously that may be connected with this information? If so, it could fall into the wrong hands.
7. Just because someone comments regularly on your blog, does not mean you KNOW them.
8. If you ever fall victim to a stalker or inappropriate, unwelcomed comments that make you uncomfortable, report it to the police and your internet service provider.
You can also vist the Federal Trade Commission's website for a wealth of information about online safety for parents and kids, as well as other consumer related tips.
Before you leave a comment that I "have put ideas in someone's head," please remember that these people are several steps ahead of us. Offenders and violent criminals outwit trusting victims every day.
These are personal choices that we all must make. Let's respect each other's choices, stay safe, and have fun!
I welcome your comments and discussion on this topic!
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7 comments:
Good stuff. I'm new at this, so I've been trying to be careful, but as you said, the temptation to post about kids is always there. It did occur to me the other day that a person could put together clues from previous posts and draw conclusions. Thanks for the reminder.
Good thoughts for sure. I try to stay relatively anonymous, but I can see where people could piece information together.
Sad but true! It's tempting to let your guard down.
This is exactly why I have never posted my kids pictures. Which is ashame, cuz they're SO darn cute! Guess you'll just have to take my word on that!
Great tips...at first I was extra careful, but then began to get a little more comfortable...still, I try to be careful of the info and pictures...great reminders!
I am more careful in some areas than others. I use a fake name, but I have posted pictures. I hate to think of bad people out there messing things up. I like being able to share stuff with our out-of-state relatives.
This is very good, Melanie. All of should be very aware of the safety precautions one should take.
This is very good information and reminders for all bloggers. I try to be careful. I do post photos of the family. I never post photos of anyone else without their permission.
Just recently I sprang out of bed one morning and ran into my office and deleted information in two posts I'd done. It just suddenly occurred to me I'd put too much information out there. So yes, we need to be careful.
It's sad that there are evil people lurking out here in cyber space but of course we all know there are.
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