Networking

5 Social Networking Resolutions for 2012

By Abbi Perets

If 2010 was the year of The Social Network and 2011 taught us all about the dark side of social networking, then it makes sense that 2012 should be about how we’re all going to do better. Yes, that’s right: It’s time to start working on making yourself safer on Twitter, Facebook and your other favorite social networking sites. Here are five resolutions you shouldn’t have any trouble keeping:

When you upload those photos of your cat curled up on your bed, you may be displaying more than just your kitty. Earlier this year, we taught you about geotagging -- embedding GPS coordinates in digital photos that can let people match photos with Google Street View maps and pinpoint locations within 1 meter. Now is the time to learn how to disable geotagging on your phone or camera so that you post only the information you want to share.

Resolution No. 4: Check out.
Every time you check in to a location, you tell people where you are. You also tell them where you’re not, which can be a big problem. “Revealing that you will be away from home, especially if your address is posted on your profile, increases the risk that your home will be burglarized,” according to the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT), part of the Department of Homeland Security. You might as well leave your front door wide open with a sign inviting thieves to help themselves. No one really needs to know that you’re at Dunkin’ Donuts for the sixth time this week, so disable this feature on your phone and other devices.

You don’t have to approve every friend request -- and you probably shouldn’t. Beyond having a personal social networking policy that determines where you link to certain people, you should also feel free to ignore or deny requests from people you don’t know or trust. Never approve anyone whose name you don’t recognize, and don’t be shy about giving the boot to people you approved in the past. Once a month, take 15 minutes to review one of your social networking sites and get rid of anyone who shouldn’t be on your list.

Be less friendly, and don’t share as much. It sounds almost mean, but it’s actually all about protection. The Internet has a long memory. If you post something, it can live on in screenshots or Web archives, even if you delete it later. And the impact can be permanent: In a survey conducted by Retrevo, 32 percent of people who posted on a social networking site later regretted they had done so, and almost one-third of those people said their post “ruined their marriage or relationship with someone or caused problems at home or work.”

If you’re still using the same password you chose when you opened your AOL account, it’s time to make a change. Not only do you need to strengthen your password, but you should also use different passwords for every site you access. That way, if a password for one site is compromised, the rest of your data and personal information will still be safe. US-CERT recommends developing mnemonics to remember complex passwords that combine lowercase and capital letters, numbers and special characters. For example, your bank password might be “1wm5vc!,” which you can remember as “I watch my spending very carefully!”

So as you kick off the new year and resolve to hit the gym and give up chocolate, take a few minutes to upgrade your social networking responsibility.

Photo: @iStockphoto.com/arakonyunus