Social networking is definitely here to stay! And although it took some time before it finally caught seniors’ attention, more and more seniors are now exploring—and enjoying—the perks social networking sites are apparently giving them. Social networking sites, or social media sites in general, come in all forms and sizes, meaning it is quite impossible not to find a social networking site that is tailor-fit to suit a senior’s needs!
However, social networking sites work almost similarly as online dating sites, only their intentions are different. Dangers of it, unfortunately, are still present and still active as ever. We all know that seniors are usually the target of such malicious activities especially in the virtual world. Nonetheless, there are ways to get around these social networking threats, aside of course, from your own common sense:
·    If at some point, you feel threatened or abused, you can always report abusers to authorities. This can be your local police, if the threat can cause bodily harm or if it’s just an annoying person then report them to the site moderators at once to get them blocked or kicked out of the site.
·    Never give out your contact info, especially the ones you don’t want every Joe and Jane to know. Take advantage of the security features your social networking site offers. With these security features, you can choose who can access your profile and to what extent.
·    Any appropriate actions you see such as postings and links, you must take the liberty of reporting them to the authorities, even if they are not directed at you.
·    Never do meetups with someone you just met online. That’s definitely a no-no since it’s very dangerous for seniors to do so. If you really need to do so, make sure your family knows where you are going, whom you’re going to meet and as much as possible, do it in a public place with someone to accompany you.
·    Keep private pictures to yourself. There’s no need for you to post them for everyone to see. Rule of thumb is, whatever you post in there, consider it as a public property already! Your photos can even make it to Google searches!
·    Never post your whereabouts or your expected trips. Why? Because you are giving ideas to people who plan to do you something bad.
·    Set a separate email account for your social networking sites. In case of identity theft, your emails are the most vulnerable since they contain potful of personal information. What’s the connection, you ask? Social networking sites require email addresses where they can confirm your account. Your login details are most likely to include the email address you are using so it won’t be that hard to figure out your password for that account as well.