Tips for Staying Safe on Facebook

In fact, studies indicate that people spend around 20 minutes every day on this social media platform each day. The time spent on the platform differs depending on several factors, including the country. With this knowledge, it is important to determine ways through which to stay safe when on this platform. This is because of the many risks that come with connecting or being friends with total strangers from all corners of the world.

Consider who you add as a friend

Some people appear to be in a competition to see who has the most number of friends. What such individuals do not realize is that adding a new friend means one more person has crucial information about you. Your posts, messages, photographs and plenty of background information is now readily available to any person who is in your list of Facebook friends. To stay safe, vetting friends that you have on Facebook is a crucial matter.

Checking your settings

Facebook has made it possible for users to change their default privacy setting regarding people who can see what is posted on their timelines. Use this feature to stop sharing more than is necessary and making you vulnerable to attacks. The limited profile is a feature worth utilizing to ensure that your personal profile is only available to people you would like to share it with and not any other person.

Check your reasons for being on Facebook

Do not be on Facebook merely for the reason that all your friends are on this social media platform. However, there is nothing wrong if this is your primary reason for being on this platform. People are on Facebook to share their photos, keep in touch with fellow users, or share links as well as updates regarding activities that interest them. Remember your reason for being on this platform and avoid signing up to apps that might obtain and use your data.

Be careful with your password

Regardless of the number of online accounts that you own, try to use different passwords. Stop the habit of sharing similar passwords on all your online accounts. Check the security questions that you set and ensure that they are hard or impossible to crack. Do not forget that hackers are ever on the prowl and might want to use your Facebook account mischievously thus putting you on the wrong side of the law.

Be careful with the device or computer that you use to sign in

Some devices and computers have a habit of storing the email addresses and passwords that people on Facebook use to sign in to their accounts. Asking the computer or browser to remember you is the best way of giving it the permission to keep records of not only your email address, but also password that you use to sign into this social media platform. If you want to be safe, ensure that the appropriate privacy settings are in play.

Lastly, watching what you say, rather than being reckless, is one of the most effective ways you can stay safe despite being on Facebook. Phishing attacks are also dime a dozen on Facebook, thus a good reason for watching out for them as a way of staying safe while on the most popular social media network in the world. If you notice that your account might have been compromised, take immediate action. Protect your devices and monitor all suspicious activities.

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