Despite having numerous advantages, social media can become damaging if you share too much information. Part of keeping you and your loved ones safe involves knowing when you shouldn’t broadcast something to the world. The goal of this list is to share what not to post on social media.
1. Your Social Security Number
Sharing your social security number via DMs or on your home feeds is one of the worst things you can do on social media. This number is incredibly valuable to criminals.
By exposing your social security number, you leave yourself vulnerable to numerous kinds of identity theft. For example, someone could use this information to open a credit account and claim that they’re you.
Even if additional verification steps are put in place, you can never be sure. You should only share this number when it’s an absolute necessity, and even then, only with genuine authorities. Always verify before doing so, too.
2. Your Home Address
Sharing your home address on social media can result in someone paying you an unwanted visit, whether that’s to stalk you or cause some other kind of harm. This is incredibly dangerous, especially if you share this information on a public platform. I always had a problem with the map feature on Snapchat. That’s why turning your location off is one of the most important Snapchat privacy settings.
If you need to share your address with someone, use an instant messaging service instead. Make sure it’s an encrypted messaging app so that you’re protected. And even then, only share your home address with people you know and trust.
Even outside of social media, you should also ensure that all of your home address information is offline. People can sometimes find out where you live by knowing who you are, then looking on directory websites. Doing a Google search of your name can confirm whether you need to remove something.
3. Your Plans and Experiences in Real Time
One huge no-no that I’ve been guilty of in the past is sharing my plans in advance. For example, I would post when I was going on holiday or visiting a certain restaurant. This definitely ranks up there with what not to post on social media, but many people do it.
I’ve also been guilty of sharing what I’m doing on my Instagram Stories in real time. Even on a private account, this can lead to unwanted attention. In severe cases, you put yourself at risk of someone who doesn’t like you showing up and causing harm.
Other than not posting these details yourself, you should also discourage others that you’re with from doing the same. I think it’s much better to share my experiences after I’ve done something (e.g., when I’ve returned from my holiday).
4. Passwords
If you’re thinking of sharing login details via DM, think twice. Should that information be leaked, any number of people could have access to your account.
Along with DMs on social media, I think it’s a bad idea to share login details via messaging apps, too. If you really need to, use a password manager to securely share passwords with others.
In addition to exposing your login details, sharing your login details is a bad idea if that platform has strict policies. For example, many streaming services clamped down on password sharing. You could put your account at risk of being restricted by sharing these details.
5. Information About Your Kids
While it’s fine to have pride in your children, sharing too much information about them can be a problem. Whenever I see an influencer posting pictures of their kids in their content, I always question whether they’ve thought about the possible risks of doing so.
Even if you don’t have hundreds of thousands of followers, sharing information about your children can put them at risk of physical harm. If they have social media accounts of their own, it can leave them open to abusive comments and other forms of cyberbullying.
Posting your kids on social media can also cause rifts with your partner if they don’t agree with posting that type of information or media. Even if you put an emoji over their faces or blur them out, I still think it’s better to avoid sharing information about them completely.
Understanding the risks of social media is crucial. While it’s common for people to overshare, the implications can be significant. Along with learning what not to post on social media, you should also take steps to secure your social accounts.
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