This isn’t a usual type of post for me, but I see a growing need to refresh people’s memories about being safe online from either a personal or professional standpoint.

The advent of social media and social networks and the explosion of personal information online is almost exponential. With this growth comes many advantages and disadvantages. Most of what is listed below was spurred out of random conversations with friends and after being asked to address the issue for a local family magazine. First I’d like to list out the pros of social media and social networking (now called the Internet).

Pros to Social Media:

Social media has tons of benefits that people are fully taking advantage of. Below is a list of some perks to being a world fully connected.

The Gatekeepers are Gone

Never before in history has it been this easy to find and get a hold of someone famous, influential, rich, poor, smart, dumb, fake, real, live or dead (you think I’m kidding). Simply look for whoever you’d like on any of the social networks and begin to follow them. That easy. Of course there are ways to contact notables in a tactful way if you actually want to get a response. If you pose no risk and they can quickly and easily engage with you, the chances are high they will.

The World is Your Marketing Place

Your ability to reach anybody in any country has never been easier. You can find any type of group under any kind of criteria you choose and will be able to find at least one other person. Your product or message can transcend countries’ boundaries quicker than ever. Finding your market is the easy part. The hard part is developing extraordinary products for that market to consume. If you do, they will.

Live and Work from Anywhere

I have worked for people all across the country and have befriended people from all over the world. I have a designer in the East Coast making websites for clients on the West Coast while I manage it all from the Upper Midwest all the while never meeting any of them in person. What a crazy world we live in. This boundless society we live in makes it very easy to live and work from anywhere in the world. You might have to be open to working in an industry that doesn’t tie you to one location, but the opportunity to do so has never been greater.

Spread Ideas or Causes

I can now post any amount of information on any medium and within seconds it can be relayed around the world. If the news or event is notable enough it can make the 5 o’clock news in every time zone. Remember the plane on the Hudson? How is that for the spread of information?

More Clients, Fans, Followers, Sales

Along all of these lines you see the lack of boundaries separating people from a market or product. I can now go straight to every consumer I target and build a relationship with them individually without the need of third parties. I don’t need TV, magazines, billboards, sponsoring events or anything of the sort to reach my demographic. I can go to the top blogger in the niche and advertise directly to where those markets consume information or engage in community activities. Better yet, I can create a place for my audience to come and engage with me on my own territory. Now you wonder why these old mediums of information exchange are dying by the dozens. I don’t need them and neither do 90% of the companies out there. Old advertising platforms like newspapers are unnecessary for engaging consumers and will disappear unless they can target a demographic I can’t.

Find or Help Anyone

It would be extremely hard to disappear in the world we live in. Wired did a case study of someone attempting just that. The advent of technology enables information and communication to flow quicker than ever. With the ability to send anything anywhere in the world in a matter of minutes, the ability to outrun that is next to impossible. Not that this is a bad thing unless you are a wanted criminal. Have a long lost relative or friend? A few mins on Facebook will probably result in you having the ability to find and make contact with those you have lost contact with over the years. This also allows for the whole world to reach out and help those in need anywhere on the planet. Never before have I helped small business entrepreneurs like I have with the advent of websites like Kiva.org.

Cons of Social Media:

Now onto the ugly side of social media that many people forget about.

Everything Can and Will be Public

Everyone knows the saying “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” Well the complete opposite of it true for the Internet. What happens on the Internet is on the Internet forever and will more than likely become public at anytime. Even sites like Facebook make you agree to their terms which include the ownership of any/all information you post on their site. Ever been tagged in a party pic on Facebook? Guess what, that is now attached to you permanently. Even if you untag yourself from the picture, it doesn’t pop up on your profile but because it was tagged, it was already recorded and can be found.

Every word you type or every time you check into a business with FourSquare it is logged. It is only a matter of time before some industrious person develops a program/software that will have the ability to pull and compile everything you have ever done on the Internet. Anytime you tweet and your location is attached, guess what, somebody is watching. The horror stories of employees getting busted in lies are just beginning and will only get worse as people slowly lose reservation.

If you don’t want people to know about or see something you want to keep private, never post it online, period. No information is safe online EVER!

Open to Becoming a Target

With social networks like Twitter and Facebook exploding in popularity and the development of smart phones, it won’t be long before you can track someone from the time they wake until they return to bed. Sites like FourSquare encourage users to check into a location when they visit as a way of helping spread awareness about a location or business. Often people can receive a free drink or prize for doing so. I can set up a Google Alert with your name or alias and watch everything you do online. I can create a dummy Twitter or Facebook account, become your friend and do anything with your information I choose. Not all of that is legal but that doesn’t matter to a person who means to do someone else harm. A person can buy your name as a url and rank for your name with anything they want posted on the site. It is much easier to do damage to someone online than it is to fix it. Meanwhile, everything done online is recorded somewhere.

Loss of Job

I was recently asked if it was right or not for a company to search the Internet and Social sites for a potential employee’s information. I responded with: absolutely! Living and participating in an open and free society like the Internet means that if you want to be known as a good person you have to be a good person. There is no faking a persona online. Eventually a faker won’t be able to keep up the facade and will get found out. If not by your own doing, perhaps by the doing of someone a little more mischievous. If you are applying for a job and have a ton of obscene pictures or comments on the Internet, expect for those to get found.

I feel this will be a much harder lesson for younger people to learn. I remember when Facebook and Twitter didn’t exist. People that grow up with these types of tools won’t have the same level of caution that I have. What is published online can be found at archive.org even after the site is no longer live. Imagine doing something profoundly stupid when you are 15 in 2008, posting that online and then getting rejected from a job when your 25 in 2018 because someone found that information out about you. That could be devastating to you, your reputation, ability to find/keep a job or anything else. After 10 years the chances of you being the same person is very remote, but whatever you did will forever be held over your head.

Parents should work with their kids to establish proper ways to use the Internet and Social sites. Educate them about the potential dangers of the Internet along with all of the blessing and amazing opportunities. It is very important to be involved with the same sites your kids use in order to know the possible dangers.

Passed Over

Piggybacking off of the last section, you can easily lose your job by lying and posting something to the contrary online. The same goes for posting a little too much info about yourself online. We all know that person that posts every party photo on their Facebook profile. I have to wonder if they were to interview for a high profile/paying job if the recruiter would pass them by without a second thought due to a conflict of interest. It is easy to fool an interviewer into thinking you are the most qualified but if your presence online tells a completely different story, kiss your chances goodbye.

The Internet doesn’t tell a lie. If you do you lie, it can be found out quicker than you can drive across your town.

Robbed, Tracked

The down side to all of this Social Media is the ability to do anything with your information. As this information becomes more and more real-time in nature, it won’t be long before would-be criminals use it to their advantage. Anyone can now know when you are away from home and rob you blind knowing full well they have 45 minutes to cherry pick anything in your house while you are at the restaurant across town. Due to this kind of security risk, sites like Please Rob Me have popped up to draw attention to the possible danger of social media related crimes.

I have never personally had a stalker nor to I want one, but there is a very real possibility that someone can use the Internet and all of its glorious tools to track and follow someones every waking moment. The only way to protect yourself is to be conscious of the fact that anything you post online can be used to someone else’s advantage.

Loss of Competitive Edge

The more you know about someone else, the more you have to work with as a bargaining tool. If I know more about your business or situation than you know of mine and we go head to head in a negotiation, I can/will take you to the cleaners. The old saying “knowledge is power” is very true in any situation. The more I know and the less you know, the more the balance of power is tilted in my favor. If any business is thinking about acquiring another, determining whether or not to add a new client, or feels the other party has a motive, it is best to do some digging. What you might find can save you a lot of trouble or heartache in a business deal.

If you are in a desperate situation as a person or business and trying to make moves to improve, it would be in your best interest to not post anything that can jeopardize that online. If you are a savvy investor or looking to expand your brand, it would be worth a considerable amount of time and energy to do research on those sitting across the table from you. What kind of people are they? What do they like and dislike? What is their favorite color or pastry? Knowledge is power and you can use it however you like.

If the people you are interacting with have online profiles you now have a goldmine of free information. Just remember it goes both ways.

Conclusion

I know this type of topic carries with it a wide variety of opinions. I’d love to hear yours below.