Social networking sites have therefore emerged as an integral part of our day-to-day lives nowadays, through which people communicate, share, and even exchange views with others. However, in that very process of sharing details and interacting in the virtual world, we are vulnerable to some privacy risks. Hence, achieving a finer balance between excess information disclosure and respecting one’s privacy has become increasingly sensitive.
Social networking sites have their rules on what information can be shared safely and what may put you in peril. The most least dangerous categories of information to share will help you benefit from social networking without invasion of your privacy or security levels.
Let’s dive into the information that is least likely to cause a problem on social networking sites, and how you can continue to be safe without having to give up your online presence.
1. Sharing General Hobbies and Interests
General hobbies and interests are the safest types of information to post on social networking platforms. Be it hiking, reading, cooking, photography, or whatever hobby you fancy, sharing this part of your life actually has a relatively low risk of invasion of your privacy. Posting about a hobby can easily help you connect with other people with mutual interests- a great way to find community without compromising personal belongings.
For example, you like photography and upload the greatest landscape shots taken by you on Instagram or Facebook so that others can appreciate your work and share their experience without showing private details about your location and identity. Hobbies can also lead to interesting discussions and contacts with like-minded people who widen your social circle safely and playfully.
2. The public events or conferences you attended
Participation in public events or conferences is another fairly low-risk type of information to share. Public events, in their very nature, are carried out in large groups of people, and if you attended one, your actions do not reveal much personally. Most probably you do not expose too much of what might be considered personal if you indicate the events you attended-a concert, an art exhibition, or a professional conference.
But to be on the safe side, it is always advisable not to share your location in real time. For example, when you are at a concert in public, it would be better if you shared that you attended once the event was over instead of sharing it online in real-time. This way, the opportunity to track your movements in a public setting in real-time will be limited.
3. Quotes and Inspirational Messages
Inspirational quotes with positive messages are widely shared on different social media and will rank as one of the least risky content one can put up. You share motivational quotes, affirmations, or any other content that brings positivity to your followers without showing personal or sensitive information.
Content that inspires, facilitates, and encourages other users will come alive on platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Word of encouragement or a favorite author’s quote is sure to keep your profile pretty active while maintaining high privacy levels.
4. Professional Achievements and Skills
Share professional accomplishments and skills on safe social media sites such as LinkedIn. The safest and most fruitful things you can share on LinkedIn include your career growth milestones. LinkedIn is a social networking site where users can create a professional online presence by uploading their professional history, skills, and achievements. Information like the latest promotion received, certification, or new skill acquired forms a low-risk way of building relationships in your industry.
Professional successes that have a way of being kept up to date should, however, avoid this pitfall of sensitive, company-specific information as well as confidential or current projects, which could, for instance, embarrass the employer. The posts themselves should focus on your professional development and success so that you maintain your own privacy as well as your professional one.
5. General Travel Experiences (After the Trip)
Though posting something like sharing your general travel experiences could really result in fantastic engagement with your audience and great content, you should post most of the time after your return from the trip and not when traveling so as to minimize the potential risks of posting or sharing your location in real-time. Posting a few vacation photos and then later on stories about the places you had stopped on your vacation pose much fewer risks to your security.
For instance, you upload pictures of your Italian trip from home after you leave Italy so that you enjoy sharing your adventures with your audience yet do not give away your whereabouts. It is less risky to make your audience enjoy the content you took while keeping the wrong guys from knowing your movements.
6. Publicly Available Information
If the information is already in the public domain, it poses little to no harm when it is published on social networking. Industry-related reports on a widely known public figure or news about a widely publicized public event are materials that can easily be done without threatening privacy. Such information is anyway open access to the public. Most of the time, it does not include personal information that could haunt you.
One important thing to do is to distinguish public information from sensitive information that may seem public on the surface but may yet have malicious uses. For example, posting news reports or general statements issued by the company website is safe, but one should not publish data about financial accounts or personal information.
7. Light-hearted Personal Achievements
I think self-reflection on light-hearted personal achievements, such as running a marathon, trying a new recipe, or learning a new hobby, is essentially innocuous to share publicly. These types of achievements thus provide you with plenty of opportunities to reach out to friends and followers in a positive manner without letting people into deeply private or sensitive realms.
For instance, it could be extremely much fun and safe to express the experience of how you successfully finished your first 10K run or mastered how to bake a cake. It enables you to tell memorable happenings of life while providing you with the option to control the volume of personal information that you will upload online.
8. Well Edited Content from Experts
Another low-risk option to post on social media is sharing well-curated content from reliable sources, such as news articles, blog posts, or even educational resources. The value in curated content is that you’re sharing value with your audience by providing information that’s useful and educational in your areas of interest.
When sharing third-party information, make sure it comes from well-respected sources. In an attempt not to share fake news, controversial content, or misleading information, your reputation could get jeopardized online, or vice versa.
Conclusion
With the integration of social networking more and more into our daily lives, one must learn how to be able to distinguish what is safe to be posted and what is a risk. While a lot of the information, like real-time location, personal financial information, or intimate family matters should definitely remain private, most content that people upload is absolutely safe to be shared. Topics like general hobbies or professional achievements and light-hearted personal experiences are examples of the type of information you can be safe sharing with others.
You would enjoy the benefits of social networking but with properly managed security risks by being watchful of privacy settings and keen on the content you post online. Posting information that appears to have a value yet presents no risk to your safety or privacy is a way of helping you remain active and positive online.
