But they also open up huge issues concerning privacy and identity protection. And, as these social platforms play a more important role in our lives (think dating and job searches) its important for you to consider your level of exposure (who's seeing what) and what you can do to prevent security lapses and the leaking of certain personal information to people you'd rather not share it with.
FastCompany has a great article on the subject. Read the except below, then check out their 7 Tips for Protecting your Identity Online.
In the end, the only tried and true solution to social network privacy and security issues is to limit your presence altogether. Don't post anything you wouldn't mind telling a complete stranger, because in reality that's the potential for access. Be careful who you add as a "friend," because there's simply no way of verifying a user's actual identity online. Cluley compares it to a rep from your company's IT department calling to ask for your login password -- "Most people will give it over" with no proof of the IT rep actually existing. The caller might be your IT rep, or she might not. "This kind of scam happens all the time," says Cluley. Friends on social networks should know that real friends should know personal information already, negating the need to post it online.
Will there ever be a security breach-free social network? Probably not. "Any complex system has vulnerabilities in it. It's just the nature of building something above a certain level of complexity," says professor Evans. According to Felt, the best idea is a completely private social network. "It simply requires that there's no gossip in the circle, by which I mean one person who sets their privacy settings so low that third parties can use them to get to their friends."
"Social networks are great fun, and can be advantageous but people really need to understand that it's complicated world and you need to step wisely," Cluley says.
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