Social Media Safety
Social media is like a huge playground where you can connect with your friends, share pictures, videos, and even play games. There are a lot of different social media websites to explore, and they all have interesting things to see!
These online playgrounds are open to people from all over the world. Because of this, it is important to remember that most things you do on social media can be seen by anyone. While many people online are friendly and nice, it's important to be cautious because not everyone has good intentions.
If you’re going to explore social media websites, we should spend some time learning about social media strangers, the bad things they can do, and how we can protect ourselves from harm.
Connected To The World
Some bad people on social media sites are called online scammers. They pretend to sell cool things online but actually sell nothing and just want to take your money or personal information.
There are even bad people who pretend to be friendly, but are actually using fake pictures and made-up stories to get close to you, maybe to trick you into sharing private stuff. This type of social media stranger is known as a ‘Catphish’ and sometimes they even pretend to be people you know!
It’s always best to match the online social media profiles with your friends by talking to them in the real world.
Remember, the easiest way to protect yourself from social media strangers is to treat them like a stranger in real life. If someone you don’t know tries to talk to you, be cautious of what you share with them and don’t automatically trust what they say.
Who Are The Social Media Strangers?
When you sign up for social media platforms, they might ask you for some personal information. Sometimes they want to know a lot about you like your interests, date of birth, where you live and even your phone number.
Everyone that uses the social media website is asked the same questions too, which means they have a lot of information about a lot of people. This can be dangerous because if a hacker was to break into the social media company, they could steal everyone’s information all at once.
While it’s important to be honest and always tell the truth, it's also okay to leave some personal information blank when signing up to a social media website. This can help keep your information safe from hackers.
It’s also a really good idea to make your social media profile private to make it harder for social media strangers to find you.
The Size Of Social Media
You’ve learnt about how social media connects you to people all over the world, the bad scammers and fake people online, and how you can avoid them. Now it’s time to take some action in the real world!
Upgrade your privacy settings on social media. Watch the video below to learn how to do this…
It is also a good idea to talk with your parents and create your own list social media rules. Here is one to get you started:
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If someone I haven’t met in the real-world talks to me online, I will talk to my parents about what happened.
Call To Action!
