Be Careful Online

Remember when all the people that you met, you met in person? You could see how they were dressed, observe their body language and get a gut feeling about them right from the start. Even under these circumstances, we can be deceived. Someone who seems a little weird could be harmless and the guy who seemed to be a knight in shining armor could turn out to be the biggest jerk you've ever met. It's hard to tell.

It is even harder to tell who you are dealing with when you meet someone online. You cannot be sure that a person who presents himself as a child is actually a child. You cannot be sure of his gender, his age, or his location. We need to be more creative to find ways to ensure that our online contacts safe. Here are a few tips that may help you.

Intention - When you make a new account on FaceBook or MyPage, be clear about your intention. Are you trying to get in touch with old friends? Looking for a way to keep everyone updated on your life? Searching for your soul mate? Whatever your reason, you should set up some boundaries from the beginning. It is best to limit your online correspondence with people you know 'in real life'.

Details - Although you may be excited about your trip to the Bahamas, it would not be in your best interest to publicize your dates of travel, flight details, or your agenda online. Even if you only send this information to people who you trust, it could be intercepted by others without your knowledge. This also applies to dates, times, names, and locations of events that are part of your daily life. Let me explain why: think of any movie that includes episodes of violent crime; the assailant knew where the victim would be, and when they would be there. Think twice before you provide personal details or information about your whereabouts to anyone online.

Use your delete key - If you receive a message that says "click here for info about you," just delete it. If someone you don't know butts into your conversation and starts getting rude, hit delete. If you are bothered by persistent attempts to get in touch, you can report them through the forum you are on. If it is through your primary email, most email programs allow you to block certain addresses or set up rules to automatically delete messages with specified characteristics.

Check them out - It is always best to do a little bit of research on online contacts before adding them to your list. If you are using a social networking forum, you can begin by checking out the information on their profile and consider it in terms of your intention. For example, if you intend to provide information to friends and relatives and then a strange man asks to be added to your contacts, you can check his profile. If it shows that he is looking for relationships and all of his contacts are young attractive women, you know that it is not a good fit. If however, a person comes to you as a friend of a friend, you might feel safe adding them immediately. In either case, it would be best to put their email address and name into your favorite search engine and see what comes up. Most likely you will discover some information about them that will help you decide.

I hope that you can use this information to keep yourself and your family safe. While online contacts can help build bridges for personal and professional networks, we need to be aware that there may be other eyes upon us. It is best to be conservative about the level of detail you give out.

Natalie L. Komitsky enjoys impacting readers with substance and style. Her focus area is families and lifelong learning, including many aspects of business. To learn more about how her experience and wordsmith services can help you, stop by http://www.nkomitsky.com.