Staten Island Councilmen Warn Residents of Dangers of Social Networking
The Staten Island Advance is reporting that Council Members James Oddo and Vincent Ignazio are warning Staten Island residents of the dangers of social networking sites, such as facebook and Twitter. The pols are warning that frequently updating your status to reflect your travel plans can lead to your home being robbed upon your return.
In people's rush to grab as many "followers" as possible, they sometimes do not know who these "followers" or "friends" really are. While not everyone has malicious intentions, it's important that you know who is able to view your status. Numerous stories are floating around the Internet of "tweeters" who posted daily live updates of their vacation. Some of their followers were not well intentioned and broke into the tweeters home, taking the time to rummage through their personal belongings and rob them. They knew that the tweeter would not be home so they could take their time in searching and even make return trips to finish.
I have written a report about the Dangers of Social Networking during a pending lawsuit which I give to all my clients. I have also discussed with them the dangers that continually updating your status brings. Many people don't realize just how easy it is to find dangerous or damaging information about themselves through a few clicks of a mouse. People need to use common sense and to understand what information they are making public. Just like we used to do when we went on vacation and asked the neighbors to bring in the mail, we need to do the same with our facebook and Twitter accounts by not sharing personal information for all to see. Apart from identity theft or robbery, your physical safety may be put in danger.
This is a really important thing and I commend the Councilmen for taking an active role in this. Keeping people constantly updated on your situation and whereabouts can have negative effects in the realm of robbery, stalking, and unwanted attention. Some moderation and common sense precautions is key.