Now it's time to post a note on your front door saying, "No one is here and we won't be back for a while." Or possibly you'll put a sign in your front yard that announces "Hey! I'm not home; come on in and take what you want!" Sounds foolish, doesn't it?
According to PleaseRobMe.com, people are making this type of statement all the time. Maybe not quite in those exact words, but the messages posted on Facebook and Twitter are similar: "Flight delayed; I won't get home until tomorrow," or "Waiting to board the plane," or "At the pub."
Foursquare and other similar services provide the opportunity for people to identify where they live. This is fine, and helpful when friends want to locate your house. But it certainly can be an issue if you're announcing to the world that you aren't home. PleaseRobMe.com was created to provide awareness of online privacy issues and to understand the implications of location-sharing.
My 2 cents ... an inventory is important, and I encourage everyone to have one. But I don't advocate creating the need to put it to use because of something posted on your social media sites. Be sure you aren't saying, virtually, "Please rob me."
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2 comments:
Thanks for sharing this important information, Cindy.
A note... for anyone who may have erred in the past and posted location information on Twitter and wants it gone, you can go to Settings-->Account (the same place you edit your profile) and select "Delete any location information from my tweets."
Additionally, be sure that the box that says "enable geotagging" is UNchecked, so that others can't pinpoint your location from your tweets.
Hmm.. I see an eBook in the making, "Social media for the Publicity-hungry but Paranoid." ;)
Dawn, thanks for the tips. I appreciate your contribution.
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